Characteristics and Application of Chromium Metal

views, Updated: 2021-09-20

Chromium mainly exists in the form of chromite FeCr2O4 in nature. It is produced by reducing chromium oxide with aluminum or by electrolysis of chrome alum or chromic acid. Chromium can be used as an alloying element in stainless steel to enhance the hardness of stainless steel.

 

Chromium plating process

Chromium is often used as a chromium coating. The chromium plating process is generally divided into decorative coating, hard chromium coating, and black chromium coating. The decorative chromium coating is usually plated on the outside of the nickel layer as the top layer, and the coating has a light polishing effect like a mirror. As a decorative post-treatment process, the thickness of the chromium coating is only 0.006 mm. The sputtering targets commonly used for chromium coating are as follows:
 

Chromium Sputtering Target	Nickel Chromium Sputtering Target	Chromium Oxide Sputtering Target	Chromium Silicide Sputtering Target
Chromium Nitride Sputtering Target

Chromium material properties

Chromium has high finish characteristics, excellent corrosion resistance, hard and durable, easy to clean, and low friction coefficient. It is often used as various coating materials. It can be made into chromium powder, chromium pellet evaporation material, chromium sputtering target, and other products.

 

Typical application of chromium

Decorative chrome plating is the coating material of many automotive components, including door handles and buffers. Also, chrome is also used in bicycle parts, bathroom faucets, furniture, kitchen utensils, tableware. Hard chrome plating is more widely used in industry, including ram in the job control block, jet engine components, plastic mold, and shock absorber. Black chrome plating is mainly used in musical instrument decoration and solar energy utilization.