Plating on electrical contacts that enables alternatives to iron.

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last updated：May 18, 2026

九州電化

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Innovating electrical contacts with iron and silver plating, achieving up to 90% cost reduction.

This product is a surface treatment technology that enables silver plating on iron materials through a unique technology, providing an alternative to traditional copper electrical contacts. Since conductivity, which is crucial for electrical contacts, is dominated by the silver-plated surface, the contact performance can be maintained even when changing the base material from copper to iron. Furthermore, a two-layer plating structure is adopted to prevent galvanic corrosion (dissimilar metal contact corrosion), ensuring high corrosion resistance. Additionally, by establishing a rapid washing, draining, and drying process, high-quality silver plating on iron materials, which was previously difficult, has been achieved. This significantly reduces material costs, allowing for a reduction of over 90%.

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basic information

- Base material: Iron (Fe) - Surface treatment: Silver plating (prevents electrocorrosion due to a two-layer structure) - Features: High adhesion and high-quality silver plating on iron material - Corrosion resistance: Good results in a corrosion acceleration test at 85°C and 85% RH for 72 hours - Conductivity: Contact resistance characteristics equivalent to copper base material under the same conditions of silver plating thickness and surface condition - Process technology: Established short-time washing → draining → drying process - Cost reduction effect: Can reduce costs by approximately 90% or more compared to conventional copper contacts (based on actual data) - Application conditions: Optimal for contact resistance-dominant electrical contacts - Surface characteristics: Good wettability

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Applications/Examples of results

This technology can be applied to various electrical contacts where contact resistance governs performance. Specifically, it is suitable for connectors for printed circuit boards, card edge connectors, relay contacts, switch contacts, and breaker contacts. In these applications, the material and surface treatment of the contact surfaces significantly affect conductivity, so replacing the base material with iron has little impact on performance and can achieve substantial cost reductions. In practice, there have been cost reductions of around 90% by changing from copper materials to iron materials in movable and holder components. This technology greatly contributes to improving the cost competitiveness of mass-produced components.