UniMetal Introduces C100 Silver-Graphite Dispersion Electrolyte

UniMetal (Thomaston, Connecticut) a provider of precious metal and commercial finishing services for the electronics, medical, aerospace and automotive industries, has announced the production scaling of its C100 silver graphite dispersion, an electrolyte plating that’s proved particularly beneficial for high-power components.

C100 provides optimal resistance to fretting corrosion, oxidation, vibration and high temperatures. It retains silver’s highly conductive properties while providing anti-tarnish protection.

Friction trace tests on C-100 indicate low abrasion and zero wear-through. This abrasion resistance is achieved through embedded graphite particles. The graphite component in the silver matrix acts as a solid lubricant: with each friction event, the surface is recreated, and the abraded tips of the graphite lamellae are distributed over the friction surface. The abrasion that plagues pure silver plating is prevented, contact resistance is minimized and continuously high charging performance is ensured.

Tribometer tests at 50,000 cycles have demonstrated the low and stable coefficient of friction of C100. Thermal aging shows stable tribological behavior and contact resistance at levels equal to pure silver. This gives C100 advantages compared with pure silver, as the latter provides lesser performance in terms of both wear and heat tolerance.

UniMetal says that C100 is also cross-compatible with silver and silver alloys in the field.