Summary: The aerospace industry is moving from heavy aluminum to lightweight engineered plastics like PEEK and ULTEM for connectors to improve fuel efficiency and sustainability. This shift requires advanced plating solutions to ensure safety and performance. MacDermid Enthone provides two key technologies: evolve™ Chrome-Free Etch for sustainable surface preparation and electroless nickel plating, which provides essential conductivity, EMI shielding, and corrosion protection. Together, these innovations enable manufacturers to produce lighter, high-performance components without compromising safety standards.
The Future of Aerospace Connectors
In the aerospace industry, every ounce counts. Aluminum has long been the substrate of choice for connectors in aerospace, prized for its strength-to-weight ratio, machinability, and cost-effectiveness. A commercial jetliner can have more than 100,000 connectors powering everything from flight controls to the in-flight entertainment system, making them critical to both safety and performance.
As aerospace OEMs push for lighter, more sustainable aircraft while continuing to meet demanding standards like MIL-DTL-38999, engineers are reimagining connector design to deliver maximum efficiency without sacrificing safety or performance.
The Shift to Plastics and Composites
Weight reduction remains a top priority for OEMs, as one pound saved can equate to nearly $1 million in fuel cost savings over a plane’s lifetime. This has driven the rapid adoption of engineered plastics and composite materials, which are significantly lighter than traditional aluminum substrates.
These new materials, including PEEK, ULTEM, PEI, and PPS, offer excellent mechanical and thermal properties, are highly moldable, and are commonly found in 3D-printed aerospace components. When combined with electroless or electroplated coatings, they can achieve the same, or even superior, shielding, conductivity, and lightning strike protection as aluminum parts.
Plating on these advanced substrates has historically been challenging, as traditional processes used for ABS or ABS/PC plastics often yield poor adhesion, lower throughput, and have difficulty meeting the demanding standards of the aerospace industry.
Advanced Plating Solutions for Engineered Plastics
These plating challenges require new and innovative technologies, designed to deliver reliability and protection, and evolve™ Chrome-Free Etch is setting the standard for sustainable, high-performance Plating on Plastics.
evolve™ is a safe, sustainable, and production-proven alternative to traditional PFAS-containing hexavalent chromium etch. It delivers the same high-efficiency surface preparation and is designed for use across a broad range of substrates, from traditional ABS to engineered plastics including PEEK, PEI, ULTEM, and PPS, creating a single-system solution for applicators. Chrome-free etch processes require minimal changes to the manufacturing process, making transitions easy through the utilization of traditional process knowledge.
Electroless Nickel: Critical Protection for Connectors
Surface preparation is just the first step. Once a connector is prepared for plating, electroless nickel plays a critical role in ensuring long-term durability and conductivity.
On aluminum MIL-DTL-38999 connectors, electroless nickel serves as a barrier layer, preserving conductivity even after exposure to harsh environments. These connectors must meet strict requirements, no more than 2.0 milliohms “as-plated” and 5.0 milliohms after salt spray testing, and withstand lightning strikes up to 200 kA while maintaining structural integrity and EMI shielding performance.
For composite or plastic connectors, electroless nickel protects the underlying copper metallization layer, which provides electrical conductivity. Mid-phosphorus electroless nickel is often preferred because of its superior corrosion protection and slightly better conductivity, helping connectors to consistently meet lightning strike testing requirements.
The Bottom Line
The aerospace industry is embracing lighter, cleaner, and more efficient materials to meet the demands of next-generation aircraft. MacDermid Enthone’s innovations in pretreatment and electroless nickel technology are enabling OEMs to confidently transition from aluminum to advanced plastics and composites without compromising safety or performance.
These solutions reduce weight to improve fuel efficiency and range, support sustainability by eliminating hazardous substances and reducing waste, and deliver reliable performance, consistently meeting lightning strike, shielding, and corrosion requirements with less process variability.
By partnering closely with OEMs and applicators, MacDermid Enthone ensures a seamless transition, helping manufacturers achieve their performance, safety, and sustainability goals while delivering solutions that go far beyond chemistry.
