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NASF/AESF Foundation Research Reports

Introduction to the NASF/AESF Foundation Research Reports

Since the founding of the American Electroplaters Society (AES) in 1909, there has always been interest in research in the field of electroplating and surface finishing. In 1918, during World War I, the AES cooperated with the National Bureau of Standards (later the National Institute for Science and Technology - NIST) in supporting the employment of experienced platers on NBS research. Beginning in the late 1920s and continuing to the start of World War II, the AES supported a number of Research Associates at NBS, which produced a number of important research reports. After the war, the AES Research program as we know it began with AES funding supporting a number of projects at numerous universities and research institutions, starting with Project R-1, Stripping of Copper from Various Base Metals at Indiana University. The program has continued to the present day.

The subjects include input from the membership, and proposals from various research entities. The program has been overseen by the Research Board of the society in its incarnations as the AES, the AESF and today, the AESF Foundation, the educational arm of the National Association for Surface Finishing. To date, over 100 projects have been funded to advance both theoretical and applied research in surface finishing. See: NASF/AESF Foundation Research Projects Listing, 1945-2020.

While many of the AES/AESF research reports have been lost to history, many of the results have been published in the society journal and can be accessed in many university and corporate research libraries throughout the world. Some of that material can be found in the members section of the STERC Library. When the NASF was formed in 2008, there was a pause in the research program as priorities were assessed. Recognizing the importance of research, the NASF, through the AESF Foundation, began the next chapter in the research program in 2013. This section of the STERC Library is the home for the quarterly reports from the new projects. Most have been published separately in the NASF Technical Papers section of Products Finishing magazine, over the three-year period of the project. Here, however, is the complete story in one place. Each tab leads to the complete set of reports, in complete detail, as the project progressed through its funding period.

Project R-117 - Electrodeposition of Ni-Fe-Mo-W Alloys (2013-2016)

Beginning in January 2013, the NASF, through the AESF Foundation Research Board, funded a three-year project on alloy plating at Northeastern University, in Boston, under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Podlaha-Murphy, with emphasis on nickel-molybdenum-tungsten deposits. In 2016, a one-year extension was granted to examine the influence of oxide particulates codeposited with different combinations of Ni, Mo and tungsten alloys on the resulting deposit composition in the generation of novel alloy composites. What follows is the fourth and final report on this new work, involving Ni-W-TiO2 composite plating with the additive 2-butyne-1,4-diol under direct current, pulse current and pulse reverse modes of deposition.

Quarterly Reports:

Project R-118 - Crack Formation during Electrodeposition and Post-deposition Aging of Thin Film Coatings

The objective of the proposed work is to study fundamental and practical aspects of crack formation in electrodeposited thin films. The aim is to identify and quantify the key parameters of the electrodeposition process affecting the crack formation in thin films. This study should enable development of an effective strategy generally applicable in practice whenever electrodeposition process for crack-free films is demanded. Since completion of the project, this work has led to direct scale-up and application in obtaining engineering chromium based on trivalent chemistry

Quarterly Reports:

Project R-119 - Electro-codeposition of MCrAlY Coatings for Advanced Gas Turbine Applications

This project examines some practical, yet very important aspects associated with the development of NiCo-CrAlY composite coatings using electrolytic codeposition. Instead of using a beaker setup (as in most laboratory R&D), a small rotating barrel is utilized, which not only allows us to coat the entire surface of samples with different geometries, but also offers the scale-up potential. The parameters identified in this study can be readily translated to the industrial-scale processes where similar coatings are produced. In the overall project, we will examine current density, CrAlY particle loading, and CrAlY particle size and elucidate their effects on the CrAlY particle incorporation in the composite coating. In addition, three electrolytes (Watts bath, all-chloride and fluoborate solutions) will be studied to compare the sulfur level in the resultant NiCo-CrAlY coatings. While the fundamental aspects of this coating technique have been funded by other federal grants, they do not cover the practical aspects of increasing the particle incorporation and reducing the sulfur impurity in the deposit. Also, the findings from this study can be related to other coatings fabricated via electro-codeposition, which is a very versatile process for making composite coatings, in which particles of metals, ceramics and polymers can be codeposited. Since the applications of composite coatings are vast, there is considerable interest across fields in the electroplating community.

Quarterly Reports:

Project R-120 - Electrochemical Destruction of Perfluorooctanesulfonate in Electroplating Wastewaters

This project will study an electrochemical, destructive treatment strategy for the remediation of relevant PFASs in electroplating wastewater. The overall objective of this work is to utilize a cost-effective reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) for the removal of PFAS from synthetic electroplating wastewater. The REM is a patent-pending technology developed in our laboratory that utilizes a conductive ceramic electrode material with micron-sized pores to electrochemically oxidize or reduce contaminants in a flow-through operation. Specific technical objectives associated with the proposed work include: 1. Development of REMs for destructive PFAS removal in synthetic electroplating wastewater. 2. Determination of the optimal operational mode. 3. Calculation of energy requirements for the REM-based system and compare to those determined for GAC adsorption and other technologies.

Quarterly Reports:

Project R-121 - Development of a Sustainability Metrics System and a Technical Solution Method for Sustainable Metal Finishing

To meet the industrial need, we propose this research project, aiming to: (1) create a metal finishing- specific sustainability metrics system, which will contain sets of indicators for measuring economic, environmental, and social sustainability, (2) develop a general and effective method for systematic sustainability assessment of any metal finishing facility that could have multiple production lines, and for estimating the capacities of technologies for sustainability performance improvement, (3) develop a sustainability-oriented strategy analysis method that can be used to analyze sustainability assessment results, identify and rank weaknesses in the economic, environmental, and social categories, and then evaluate technical options for performance improvement and profitability assurance in plants, and (4) introduce the sustainability metrics system and methods for sustainability assessment and strategy analysis to the industry. This will help metal finishing facilities to conduct a self-managed sustainability assessment as well as technical solutions for performance improvement.

Quarterly Reports:

Project R-122 - Electrochemical Approaches to Treatment of PFAS in Plating Wastewater

Quarterly Reports:

Project R-123 - Electrochemical Manufacturing for Energy Applications

Quarterly Reports:

Project R-2022 - Summer Research Grant--Smart Modeling and Simulation of Electroplating Systems for Real-Time Monitoring of Chemical, Water and Energy Consumption

Final Report:

 

 


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