[Aluminum] "Nickel-free sealing" is back again???

The term "nickel-free sealing" has been around in the topic of anodizing treatment for a long time. It originated from the occurrence of allergies among consumers in South Korea many years ago when using mobile phones. It was verified that nickel metal was contained in the surface treatment process. Nickel is one of the common allergens that can cause dermatitis symptoms such as erythema, rash, and itching on the skin, forcing manufacturers to make improvements to this problem.

Various manufacturers are trying their best to replace the nickel sealing process, so they use related materials such as magnesium, Teflon or silicon to conduct tests. However, the results are not as expected or the process equipment is limited and other issues have been silent for a while. , but recently some manufacturers have restarted development.

An alternative to nickel acetate?

Recently, I met an engineer from a certain manufacturer and talked about it. He mentioned an interesting thing. Engineer: "When converting gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles, they encountered many problems that could not be overcome immediately, so the birth of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles was born. The same situation applies to the conversion of nickel-containing sealing to nickel-free sealing, so why are there no so-called transitional products?" This is a very intriguing piece of content. Since it cannot be accomplished in one go during the research and development process, why? What will be the final result if we don't improve the existing process first and then gradually move to nickel-free?

During the chat, I learned that the engineer is currently conducting tests on material correspondence, weather resistance, light resistance, and process connection. Currently, several projects have reached the expected set conditions, and there are still several projects that are waiting to be further linearized. In the test, it also makes people wonder what effect this substitute will have?

If it can be developed successfully, perhaps during this transition period, it can temporarily replace the nickel acid sealing process. It is really exciting!