Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Green Process for Plastic Chrome
EPA Contract Number: 68HERC20C0002Title: Green Process for Plastic Chrome
Investigators: Brazil, Michael
Small Business: Vergason Technology, Inc
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: November 1, 2019 through October 31, 2021 (Extended to October 31, 2022)
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase II (2019) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Heavy Metal Contamination of Soil/Water , SBIR - Manufacturing , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , Urban Air Toxics
Description:
The purpose of this research was to provide a manufacturing process to replace decorative hexavalent chrome plating on plastic substrates that is safe, cost-effective, and produces a coating meeting OEM requirements.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The objective in Phase II is a high yield, manufacturable process that eliminates hexavalent chromium and is cost competitive with the incumbent decorative electroplating process for the automotive, appliance and sanitary markets. Phase 1 delivered parts that passed all durability testing, but many failed. This was not commercially viable. A robust recipe was needed to pass hydrolysis testing. This meant identifying root causes, key factors and adjusting the recipe. In addition, boundary limits to other recipe parameters were needed to shorten cycle times, thereby increasing throughput and decreasing manufacturing cost.
Conditions for high yield manufacturing of representative 3D parts were identified and achieved. Intrinsic stress and an environment free of dust distinguish a successful SuperChrome process from other metallization processes. Suitable stress is maintained by appropriate combinations of gas flows and power levels. The level of cleanliness found necessary is suitable for a clean industrial operation without investment in cleanroom approaches.
Figure 1. Timeseries plot of single rotation, flat plaque hydrolysis results for the 3 years of development. As improvements were discovered, the baseline recipe as changed. This shows the gradual yield improvement as learning was incorporated into 5 successive recipes.
Manufacturing cost depends strongly on part size and geometry. For small to medium sized parts, cost is at parity with electroplating. For large parts, cost may be 20% greater than electroplating.
The need for a matte-finish complement to the high-gloss SuperChrome is essential for automotive applications. A two-pronged approach is expected to yield a solution soon. The immediate solution is a paint that alone provides the desired finish with a matching color. The longer-term solution is a clear matte topcoat paint coupled with a PVD metal layer, called a triple-stack.
Conclusions:
SuperChrome is now a commercially viable alternative to hexavalent chromium plating for decorative applications requiring high-gloss surfaces. It passes OEM durability requirements. For smaller parts using a standard system, manufacturing cost is at parity with electroplating, and can be for large parts with customized equipment. VTI will continue as best as possible to lower manufacturing cost and market SuperChrome globally. Work to qualify a matte companion remains to be completed. Due to competition between suppliers, commercial adoption may require a government ban on hexavalent chromium plating for these applications.
Commercially, the US and global market for decorative chrome on plastic is 12 million m2/year and 84 million m2/year respectively, with 80% in automobile trim, 10% in appliances and 10% in sanitary fixtures. SuperChrome has the potential to fill most, if not all, of these applications.
Almost all testing by outside entities is performed under non-disclosure agreements. They to do not want competitors to know what they are evaluating. Also, automotive OEMs expend considerably to develop test specifications that ensure product success in the market; making those tests and specifications available to competitors would put them at a disadvantage. Specifications and design approvals are shared by OEMs on need-to-know basis with individual qualified suppliers. However, in order to enable the supply chain, OEMs occasionally make approval documents publicly available. Prior to the contract period, Groupe PSA1 approved SuperChrome for both interior2 and exterior3 applications. In 2016, Mercedes-Benz issued approval of SuperChrome for exterior applications4 that can be shared publicly. This opened the way for Daimler designers to select SuperChrome and for suppliers to offer it. Prior to the contract period, VTI sold a deposition system and license to SPPP, a French company5. They have given their name, EcoChrome, to their execution of the VTI process in equipment provided by VTI. Through two separate Tier 1 suppliers, parts were purchased from SPPP. These were installed on taxis and driven extensively and successfully for one year in Stuttgart, Dubai and New England.
VTI has engaged with more than 24 major manufacturers and suppliers with product sampling and system quotes. Even though the product passes required testing, a fundamental deadlock exists on two fronts, product liability risk and financial burden of initial field trials. Government compulsion may be required to overcome the first. Additional funding may solve the second.
New products invariably carry some risk of the unknown; such failures can derail careers of decision makers. Memories of past failures6 are strong deterrents. Two large American suppliers of electroplated plastic parts have separately evaluated SuperChrome favorably. However, in private conversations, both emphatically stated that they would adopt SuperChrome only if government regulations forced such adoption. As long as the incumbent electroplating processes are allowed, no entity would accept the risk of being a first adopter unless they knew that the entire market would be obligated simultaneously. This risk should be kept in perspective. SuperChrome is a decorative finish on plastic parts. Should some new failure mode be discovered, no person would be harmed. No underlying metal would be exposed to corrosion, as is the case with paint on body panels. At worst, individual plastic parts might need replacement. On the other hand, hexavalent chromium is a real danger not only for workers all the time but also for the general public when it gets released to the environment7.
This may be a situation for government to act in service of both business and the public. If all businesses were compelled to adopt a safe alternative, none would be exposed to a first-adopter risk. There would be resistance, as witnessed in Europe. The EU originally had a sunset date for September 21, 2017 for hexavalent chromium in this application, but after heavy industry lobbying moved it to September 21, 2024, with the possibility of authorizing use beyond that in individual cases8.
A second deadlock is encountered in many interactions regarding the bearer of the risk of cost for a first introduction. Potential customers desire to evaluate parts for which they have an immediate customer or platform application, and they desire those parts to be perfect. Any imperfection is seen as an inherent process limitation. After all, why would someone trying to break into a market show anything other than their absolute best capability? If the samples are not perfect, the process must not be ready for manufacturing, right? Thankfully, some customers understand that several technologies must converge successfully to produce a finished part. They understand that, while SuperChrome PVD is the new technology, the other needed technologies of painting and masking are well developed. However, masking and top-quality painting require investments and sufficient volume to be successful. VTI is capitalized to produce the PVD coating samples of limited variety that are painted using VTI's existing, very limited painting capabilities. Masking requires a cost of between $10K and $30K depending on shapes and sizes. There are many possible situations to move forward, but to date a full combination of OEM approval, OEM design, part supplier with paint capability willing to invest in masking fixtures and a VTI deposition system has been lacking. One exception was when two separate Tier 1 suppliers paid SPPP to produce the Mercedes Benz parts for field testing.
To date, after more than 5 years of promoting SuperChrome, no OEM and no Tier 1 supplier has been willing to make the financial investment required to proceed. Even though SuperChrome has passed their testing, they still are reluctant to be the first to take the risk on a new technology, even though it solves the hexavalent chrome problem. There are several scenarios for breaking this logjam. One way to proceed would be for VTI to take the risk and full cost of producing the first product for a suitable recipient. The ideal OEM would be Automotive, with parts to be dedicated to a platform used for a limited Executive build, a dedicated fleet, or a limited model with special trim. Such restricted deployment limits OEM exposure to unanticipated risks. For a reasonable quantity of 20,000 parts, produced in the US by VTI, a rough estimated cost would be $345,000, which includes necessary capital improvements. If the work could be done at SPPP in France, where all capital is in place, a rough estimate is $95,000.
References:
[1] Since January 2021 PSA is now Stellantis, the world's 4th largest automaker, with brands Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Maserati, Fiat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel, Lancia and Vauxhall.
[2] Matériaux pour décors Revêtement de pièces plastiques intérieures décorées en technologie PVD SPPP
ECOCHROME, Patrick Cantin, FTM51 0097, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, December 8, 2017
[3] REVETEMENTS DE PEINTURE POUR PIECES RAPPORTEES EXTERIEURES DECOREES EN TECHNOLOGIE PVD SPPP
ECOCHROME, Hervė Ruault, FTM50 0061, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, March 28, 2018
[4] Befund 7-/16-10450, 16/10547 und 16-10934, Dr. Tobias Lux, Technologiefabrik Verfahrensentwicklung und Werkstoffe, October 28, 2016
[5] SPPP, Society Painting Plastic Pieces, Saint-Berthevin, France. Paint division of Alpha Kk Group, a Japanese Tier 1 automotive supplier. https://sppp53.com/
[6] For example, Tom Riley, et al. v. General Motors, LLC, case number 6:22-cv-00499, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Separately, a major delamination of paint from Uniprime, a new primer, for GM and Chrysler in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
[7] Tribar Manufacturing of Wixom, MI, which produces plated exterior trim parts, was temporarily shut down for discharging carcinogenic hexavalent chromium into a tributary of Michigan's Huron River. https://www.wsj.com/articles/fords-latest-supply-chain-snarl-not-enough-blue-oval-badges-11663944141
https://www.autoblog.com/2022/09/23/ford-badge-shortage/
[8] https://envirocare.org/insights/hexavalent-chromium-chromium-vi-and-reach/
SBIR Phase I:
Green Process for Plastic Chrome | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.