With the deepening popularization of the concept of sustainable development and the rapid development of the social economy, the coordinated development of economy and environmental protection has become the main trend for enterprise development and technological innovation.
In the context of the development of the electroplating industry, more and more problems have emerged, including dust hazards, environmental pollution, electric shock hazards, and so on. Traditional electroplating not only causes significant pollution to the environment, but also causes significant harm to human health, and the quality of the coating is not high.
The hazards of traditional electroplating
Dust hazard: During the operation process, a large amount of dust will be generated, which is mostly organic solvents and contains toxicity that can easily cause rash or high fever, as well as various other complications. In addition, a large amount of chromium compounds will be emitted during the electroplating process, which can cause skin ulcers, neuropathy and other diseases.
Environmental pollution: The wastewater and waste discharged by electroplating factories are extremely harmful to the natural environment. These wastewater and waste materials not only corrode the land and pollute water sources, but also damage the nutrition of the land, forcing it to flow water and affecting agricultural production.
Electric shock hazard: The human body is generally prone to electric shock hazard when exposed to high or low voltage power sources. Various electrical equipment are used in the electroplating process, including rolling machines, polishing machines, electric ovens, and electric heaters. Generally, the input voltage is relatively high, so there is a risk of electric shock.
Instead, vacuum coating technology with more advanced technology and better coating quality has been adopted. Vacuum coating technology began in the 1930s and has now moved from laboratories to factories, achieving large-scale production. It has been widely applied in industrial fields such as photovoltaics, construction, decoration, communication, and lighting.
In recent years, China's vacuum coating industry has experienced rapid development and continuous improvement in technological level. A few enterprises have already acquired the ability to compete with international manufacturers, but the overall technological level in China still lags behind the advanced level abroad. Some core components used in equipment production, such as plasma generators and vacuum pumps, still rely mainly on imports, which to some extent restricts the development of the industry.
Vacuum coating technology (mainly PVD technology) has made significant progress and engineering applications. By adding an arc discharge ion source in the cavity, high-density plasma can be generated, significantly improving the ionization rate of gas. The magnetron sputtering/arc ion plating composite technology combines the advantages of magnetron sputtering and arc ion plating, with higher ionization rate; During the evaporation process, there are no liquid droplets and a smooth surface can be prepared; The coating has extremely high density and hardness; Good membrane substrate adhesion. The arc ion plating+pulse enhanced electron emission technology can prepare oxide coatings below 600 ℃. Embedded PVD technology can be used for plastic metallization, replacing chrome plating technology. During the production process, hexavalent chromium is not used, which is environmentally friendly. The manufacturing process has low energy consumption, no waste, and the components can be recycled.
According to the report, the market size of vacuum coating machines in China will reach 61.198 billion yuan (RMB) in 2022, and the global market size of vacuum coating machines will reach 169.995 billion yuan in the same year. The research report on the vacuum coating machine industry combines the industry development environment and market dynamics to make reasonable predictions on the market trend of vacuum coating machines during the forecast period. It is expected that the global vacuum coating machine market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% during the forecast period, and it is predicted that the total size of the global vacuum coating machine market will reach 248.443 billion yuan by 2028.
At present, China's vacuum coating equipment industry is mainly divided into four categories: PVD coating equipment, CVD coating equipment, magnetron sputtering equipment, and other vacuum coating equipment. Among them, PVD coating equipment accounts for 55.32% of the overall vacuum coating equipment market size, ranking first. Secondly, CVD beryllium film equipment accounts for 36.67% of the overall vacuum coating equipment market size. Thirdly, magnetron sputtering equipment accounts for 6.95% of the overall vacuum coating equipment market size. Finally, other vacuum beryllium film equipment accounts for 1.05% of the overall vacuum coating equipment market size.
Vacuum coating technology plays a crucial role in the development of manufacturing and even high-tech industries. With the continuous expansion of production scale in industries such as global electronic information, semiconductors, optical components, and photovoltaics, China can follow the trend and promote the development of the vacuum coating industry.
In terms of environmental protection, vacuum coating technology has better environmental friendliness than traditional chemical coating and electroplating. In traditional processes such as chemical coating and electroplating, a large amount of chemical reagents and solutions are required for environmental treatment. These solutions often contain harmful heavy metals and chemicals to the environment. The cost of treating industrial waste pollutants such as wastewater and exhaust gas is high, and it can also cause serious pollution to the environment. However, vacuum coating technology does not require the use of these chemical reagents and solutions, which can reduce its impact on the environment.
In addition, vacuum coating technology is also superior in terms of recycling and reuse. In traditional processes such as chemical coating and electroplating, it is difficult to recycle or treat the wastewater and waste gas from the coated parts, and often require chemical treatment, neutralization, and other steps before discharge. Vacuum coating technology can efficiently utilize and purify wastewater and exhaust gases, as well as recycle and reuse metal elements and other substances in solutions.
Therefore, vacuum coating technology has certain advantages in environmental protection and is of great significance in promoting the development of clean and green manufacturing industry.
In the practical application process of vacuum coating, tribology and surface interface are scientific issues that need to be studied with emphasis. The development of high-end vacuum coating equipment requires solving technical problems such as core components, advanced coating processes, and control systems, especially actively integrating into the wave of the fourth industrial revolution and exploring the path of digital transformation. In addition to mature markets such as the tooling and automotive industries, vacuum coating can also provide important support for innovative development in the medical, aerospace, and semiconductor industries.
