One of the drawbacks of electrolytically deposited coatings is the possibility of hydrogenation.

In some of the phases of the coating application process, such as pickling or the deposition phase itself, hydrogen formation occurs on the metal surface to be coated as an auxiliary reaction.
This hydrogen, in monatomic form, can diffuse within the metal structure, producing fragility in it.

This monoatomic hydrogen diffused in the structure of the metal to be coated must be extracted, by means of thermal treatments, before it changes to diatomic hydrogen, at which time it is no longer possible to extract it by conventional dehydrogenation methods.

Zinc-nickel, due to the properties of the deposited layer and the deposition characteristics of that layer, has a much less tendency to hydrogenation than other Zn coatings and other alloys.

i) Properties of the deposited layer:
The deposited zinc layer is not very porous, preventing the hydrogen, which may have diffused in the metal structure to be coated, from being expelled if not by means of heat treatments. On the contrary, the zinc-nickel layer is much more porous and allows the possible diffused hydrogen to be evacuated before going to diatomic form.

ii) Deposition characteristics:
In the first moments of the deposition phase of the zinc-nickel coating, a small nickel layer is generated on the surface of the metal to be coated. This nickel acts as a catalyst in the reaction of the passage of monoatomic to diatomic hydrogen, so that, in this way, it does not diffuse within the base metal structure.

A corrosion test involves the performance of laboratory experiments that simulate corrosive environments in order to determine the resistance of coated metals under controlled conditions.

The behaviour against corrosion of a metal is a joint property between its own characteristics and that of the environment that surrounds it, so since there is no valid test that covers all possible variables, it is necessary to define laboratory tests with established and controlled conditions , being the results that we will obtain both qualitative and quantitative.

Corrosion is defined as the attack of a metal by reaction with the environment gradually, this phenomenon implies a cost of between 1.5-3.5% of the gross national product. All metals with the exception of some metals such as Gold or Platinum are corroded to a greater extent in contact with atmospheric agents becoming Oxides.

The purpose of the corrosion tests is to be able to evaluate the long-term performance of various metals in an accelerated manner, which allows determining the behaviour of the various metals before the environmental exposure in a reduced time, although the purposes of the corrosion tests can be diverse (compare behaviour of metals and their alloys, selection of materials according to their use, study of materials….) the most important for anticorrosive coatings is to determine the anticorrosive effectiveness of metals deposited on the metal to be protected.

The results obtained in corrosion tests on coated steel parts allow us to compare results of various coatings under controlled conditions, being able to determine which coating behaves better when faced with external agents, but it should be taken into account that a corrosion test does not simulate the actual behaviour to which the conditions of the same are not 100% extrapolated to the actual exposure conditions, but must be used as a means of control according to standards and reproducibility check of the applied coatings.

Committed to the safety of people in the workplace, we have installed a defibrillator to protect the health of our employees currently working at our facilities in Sant Esteve de Sesrovires (Barcelona).

With the installation of the device, 6 people were trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator use.

The company is sensitized with the fact that in our country the risk of cardiovascular accident has a high prevalence. In this way we intend to preserve the well-being of the employees and of all the people who visit the facilities.

We believe that the current regulation on cardioprotection in work spaces should be modified and the installation of these devices in any work environment, regardless of the volume of employees, should be mandatory.

This action, clearly of improvement, can make the difference between saving or not saving a life because it allows a quick action in case of emergency.

INELCA, SLU
Metal surface coating
Electrolytic coatings

The benefits of metal surface coatings are so broad that they become indispensable for many areas.

There are coatings of different types which contribute some characteristics or others to the material on which they are deposited:

• By means of electrochemical metal depositions, such as galvanized, Zinc alloys (Zinc Nickel, Zinc Iron, Zinc Cobalt, Zinc Cobalt Iron), tin plating, electrolytic nickel plating, decorative chrome plating, hard chrome.
• Through chemical depositions, such as acid zinc and aluminum chromatizing.
• Obtained by conversion, such as anodizing of aluminum and titanium, blued and phosphating.
• Hot dip, such as galvanized, aluminized, tinned and leaded.
• Metallization by projection or vacuum deposition.
• Through plasma obtaining surface hard layers with PVD and CVD.
• Paints, polyurethanes, electrophoresis, electrostatic powder, etc.
• Coatings with PVC, rubber or Teflon plastics.

Depending on the type of coating used, the following improvements can be obtained:

• Improvement of corrosion protection
• Improvement of mechanical characteristics
  • Hardness
  • Wear resistance
  • Ductility

• Improvement of specific properties
  • Weldability
  • Conformability
  • Electrical contact
  • A combination of several (color, abrasion resistance, friction coefficient, etc.)