Cathode Plate Protrusions for Electrodeposition Film Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cathode plates for metal electrodeposition face issues with non-conductive film loss and maintenance, leading to decreased productivity and increased costs due to film degradation and uneven plating, especially when using screen printing or photosensitive resins, and injection molding methods.
Innovation Solution
A cathode plate design featuring disk-shaped protrusions on a metal plate with a non-conductive film on the flat sections between protrusions, where the protrusions have a concave step side face, reducing film loss and facilitating easy maintenance by preventing peeling residue during film replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a non-conductive film is formed on a flat plate-shaped metal plate by screen printing or photosensitive resin methods, then a cathode plate for manufacturing small mass-shaped electric nickel can be created, but the non-conductive film is easily lost due to thin film thickness at boundaries and impacts during peeling, leading to frequent maintenance and reduced productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The metal plate is divided into protruding conductive sections and recessed non-conductive sections through patterned protrusions. This segmentation allows the non-conductive film to be formed only in recessed areas with sufficient thickness, preventing film loss while maintaining ease of manufacture through standardized patterning processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional flat plate to a three-dimensional structure with protrusions and recesses. By adding the height dimension, the non-conductive film is positioned in recessed areas where it achieves sufficient thickness to resist loss during peeling operations, while the protruding sections remain exposed for conductive function.
2Reliability
If the non-conductive film thickness is increased to prevent film loss, then film stability improves, but the complexity of the cathode plate structure and manufacturing process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cathode plate structure implements local quality by providing different geometries for different functional areas. The recessed sections contain the non-conductive film with sufficient thickness for stability, while the protruding sections remain exposed for electrical conduction. This localized structural differentiation achieves film stability without requiring uniform complexity across the entire plate.
3Productivity
If small piece-shaped electric nickel with sharp corners is used as anode raw material, then it can be manufactured from plate-shaped electric nickel, but handling difficulty increases and shelf hanging occurs in the titanium basket causing plating unevenness
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces sharp-cornered small piece-shaped electric nickel with button-shaped electric nickel featuring rounded corners and smooth surfaces. This curvature modification eliminates the shelf hanging phenomenon in titanium baskets and improves handling ease, while maintaining manufacturing productivity through the same cathode plate-based production method.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The cathode plate design significantly reduces non-conductive film loss and enables repeated use, improving productivity and reducing maintenance costs by preventing film degradation and ensuring uniform film thickness, thus maintaining consistent electrodeposition quality.
Implementation Method 1
a non-conductive film formed on a flat section of the metal plate between adjacent protrusions
Implementation Method 2
precipitating nickel on the conductive section with electrolysis
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided are: a cathode plate for metal electrodeposition which makes it less likely to lose a non-conductive film on a metal plate, which can be used repeatedly, and for which maintenance is easy even if a non-conductive film is lost; and a manufacturing method for such cathode plate. This cathode plate 1 includes a metal plate 2 on which a plurality of disk-shaped protrusions 2a are arranged, and a non-conductive film 3 formed in flat sections 2b which are sections of the metal plate 2 other than the protrusions 2a. The protrusions 2a each have a side face that has a shape formed of a substantially vertical section 2d and an inclined section 2e. A height L1 of each protrusion 2a is 50µm to 1000µm, and when an intersection of the side face of the protrusion and a vertical line that is vertically lowered from a position X that is 20µm outward from the outer peripheral edge of the protrusion is defined as Y, then a length L2 from X to Y is at least 40µm but not more than 0.8×L1µm.