Immersion zinc plating

Immersion zinc plating is an electroless (non-electrolytic) coating process that deposits a thin layer of zinc on a less electronegative metal, by immersion in a solution containing a zinc or zincate ions,. A typical use is plating aluminum with zinc prior to electrolytic or electroless nickel plating.

Immersion zinc plating involves the displacement of zinc from zincate by the underlying metal:


 * 3 + 2 Al → 3 Zn + 2 + 4 OH−