Martin Engels, Ron Dielis, Ton Hurkmans, Ionbond Netherlands B.V., Venlo, Limburg, Netherlands
Decorative Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coatings emerged towards the end of the 20th century as a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative or replacement of traditional electroplating processes, for example to deposit a Brass color on sanitary parts in the USA. Furthermore, the superior wear resistance and therefore higher durability, compared to uncoated or electroplated parts, have been a significant reason why decorative PVD coatings gained more traction in diverse markets. Today, the markets which are being addressed have grown from sanitary parts to automotive interior/exterior or luxury articles like watches or golf clubs, and of course various other articles which can be coated.
This growth is not only based on the improved wear properties, but also the aesthetic appearance of the products can be enhanced by selecting one of the numerous colors which can be deposited by the different decorative PVD technologies, mainly Cathodic Arc Evaporation (CAE) or Magnetron Sputtering (MS). The classic colors range from Brass to Gold and Copper shades, or alternatively through the greyscale from light Silver over Grey shades to Dark Black. However, nowadays the interest of customers is expanding to more special colors like blue, green or dark brown and many more. Other than that, there is a rising demand for additional properties like corrosion protection or easy-to-clean behavior.
Overall, this contribution will give an introduction on the historic development and basics of decorative PVD and will transition through the current state of the art towards developments which are expected to emerge more on the market. Those developments range from new colors to new properties towards new technologies which are needed to fulfil a further growth of the amazing field of decorative PVD.