Chemical brightening, a process that increases the specular reflectivity of aluminium, is the core business of our sister company Argos Lualma.
One of the few Italian companies to offer anodic brightening treatment, Argos Lualma also boasts one of the largest plants in the country. The production line is equipped with tanks with a length of 4.8 metres and a height of 1.2 metres (useful measurements).
Chemical brightening is hugely popular in the furniture, automotive and lighting engineering industries: markets characterised not only by the need for high functionality but also by a focus on design and the aesthetic appearance of the products.
Polishing by means of brightening is a preliminary processing, which can be carried out in combination with other treatments such as colour anodizing.
3 advantages of anodizing versus electroplating
Brightening provides a shiny finish on aluminium and is now considered an excellent alternative to electroplating, not least because of the many advantages it can offer.
1. Low costs
Aluminium chrome plating is characterised by an undisputed level of aesthetic performance, making it a particularly popular treatment in the luxury end of the commercial sector. If well-executed, it guarantees excellent properties, but this is coupled with high processing costs. On the other hand, anodic brightening offers the same level of functional performance at a much lower price.
Despite the difference in aesthetic performance, features such as the possibility of optimising production, lower costs, replicability and industrialisation of products have led to the spread of polishing in many commercial sectors, especially for mass-market processing.
2. Large workpieces
Applying a galvanic coating requires a significant economic investment, especially if the parts to be treated are medium to large. Galvanic mirror chrome plating tanks rarely exceed a length of 80 centimetres, and in rare cases, plants with 2-metre tanks can be found.
Chemical brightening of Argos Lualma, on the other hand, can be performed on workpieces up to 4.8 metres long (e.g. kitchen plinths or shower cubicles).
3. Treatment resistance
While galvanic chrome plating is a surface coating that tends to flake and crack over time, the brightening treatment works directly on the machined material, with extremely resistant results.
In addition, electroplating tends to be damaged more easily in cases where products are subjected to machining after the coating application: cuts and punctures negatively affect the final quality of the part.
Chemical brightening, on the other hand, allows the products to be processed after treatment without incurring cracks that would trigger undesirable oxidation phenomena.