How to Choose the Coating of NdFeB Magnets?
Jan 08, 2025
NdFeB magnets are produced by powder metallurgy process. They are a kind of powder material with strong chemical activity. There are tiny pores and cavities inside them, which are easily corroded and oxidized in the air. After the material is corroded or the components are damaged, the magnetic properties will be attenuated or even lost over time, thus affecting the performance and life of the whole machine. Therefore, strict anti-corrosion treatment must be carried out before use.
At present, the anti-corrosion treatment of NdFeB generally adopts electroplating, chemical plating, electrophoresis, phosphating and other methods. Among them, electroplating is the most widely used as a mature metal surface treatment method.
NdFeB electroplating uses different electroplating processes according to the different product use environments, and the surface coatings are also different, such as zinc plating, nickel plating, copper plating, tin plating, precious metal plating, etc. Generally, zinc plating, nickel plating + copper + nickel plating, nickel plating + copper + chemical nickel plating are the mainstream processes. Only zinc and nickel are suitable for direct plating on the surface of NdFeB magnets, so multi-layer electroplating technology is generally implemented after nickel plating. Now the technical difficulties of direct copper plating of NdFeB have been broken through, and direct copper plating and then nickel plating is the development trend. Such a coating design is more conducive to the thermal demagnetization index of NdFeB components to meet customer needs.
The most commonly used coatings for NdFeB strong magnets are zinc plating and nickel plating. They have obvious differences in appearance, corrosion resistance, service life, price, etc.:
Polishing difference: Nickel plating is superior to zinc plating in polishing, and the appearance is brighter. Those who have high requirements for product appearance generally choose nickel plating, while some magnets are not exposed and the requirements for product appearance are relatively low. Generally, zinc plating is used.
Difference in corrosion resistance: Zinc is an active metal that can react with acid, so its corrosion resistance is poor; after nickel plating surface treatment, its corrosion resistance is higher.
Difference in service life: Due to different corrosion resistance, the service life of zinc plating is lower than that of nickel plating. This is mainly reflected in the fact that the surface coating easily falls off after a long time of use, causing oxidation of the magnet and thus affecting the magnetic properties.
Hardness difference: Nickel plating is harder than zinc plating. During use, it can greatly avoid collisions and other situations that may cause corner loss and cracking of NdFeB strong magnets.
Price difference: Zinc plating is extremely advantageous in this regard, and the prices are arranged from low to high as zinc plating, nickel plating, epoxy resin, etc.
When choosing NdFeB strong magnets, it is necessary to consider the use temperature, environmental impact, corrosion resistance, product appearance, coating bonding, adhesive effect, and other factors when choosing the coating.