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#296 Silver Plating for Electronics

Category : Electroplating
June16, 2017

Similarly to industrial gold plating, industrial silver plating is also essential to electronics-related components. Among metals, silver, which is less expensive than gold, has the best electrical conductivity. It also has an excellent thermal conductivity, lubricity, and heat resistance, and therefore is used widely, not only in the electronics industry, but also in the electrical engineering and aircraft industries.

Applications and purposes of industrial silver plating are summarized in the Table.

[Table] Applications and purposes of industrial silver plating
ApplicationsParts to be silver-platedPurposes
Electrical
engineering
Electrodes on breakers, insulators, terminals, transformer terminals, busbars for distribution boards and switchboards, welding arcs, flash-butt electrodes, etc.Electrical conductivity, low contact resistance, solderability
ElectronicsVarious switches, contacts, connectors, lead frames, stems, etc.Electrical conductivity, low contact resistance, solderability
AircraftBearings, joints, bolts and nuts for high-temperature environmentLubricity, seizure prevention, heat resistance
Microwave
circuit
WaveguidesSmoothness, high-frequency characteristics

Silver plating, like gold plating, also uses both soft and hard silver. Soft silver plating is used as a substitute to gold plating for parts that require high electrical conductivity, such as lead frames and stems. Hard silver plating is used for parts with an emphasis on wear resistance, such as connectors, terminals, and switch contacts.

Silver plating is susceptible to sulphide staining caused by sulfur in the environment. Therefore, anti-tarnish treatment, such as chromating and oil coating, is carried out after silver plating.

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MISUMI USA eCatalog