Measurement of Hexavalent Chromium, Aluminum, and Nickel in Plating Solution by Absorption Spectrophotometry -Analysis of Plating Solution-

Introduction

The RoHS (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive was officially announced in Europe in February, 2003. In principle, the objectives of the RoHS directive are to restrict the use of heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium) and brominated flame retardant PBB (polybrominated biphenyl) and PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ether) in new electrical equipment products. The directive is going to be put into effect on July 1, 2006. The directive will require the electrical and electronic equipment manufacturers to take into consideration the quantities of these toxic substances contained in their products introduced into the European market. Although the specific criteria values are not to be announced, there is great interest in the RoHS directive among the companies, who plan to export their products to Europe. Examples of absorption spectrophotometric measurements on these substances will be introduced here. Using this method, hexavalent chromium, aluminum, and nickel contained in widely used plating solutions can be analyzed by diluting the solutions and then adding packed reagents. For details on analyzing plating products, please refer to Shimadzu Application News No. A361, and for details on analysis using generally used UV spectrophotometers, please refer to Shimadzu Application News No. A374.

October 13, 2005 GMT