Impact Coatings is claiming a new unique and proprietary coating material as a very cost effective replacement for expensive electroplated gold on electrical contacts. The company recently started a cooperation with Volvo Cars about electrical connectors in their cars.

It offers a combination of low contact resistance and resistance to oxidation, wear, friction and chemical ageing. Moreover, MaxPhase and its coating process are much friendlier to the environment than gold and electroplating, Impact Coatings said.

MaxPhase consists of a nanostructured base of titanium, silicon and carbon at the proportions of 3-1-2. By alloying various elements, the MaxPhase coating can be tailor made and it thereby effectively brings products into line with customer needs. Industrial deposition of MaxPhase is made in Impact Coatings' Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) systems that allow MaxPhase to be used in very high volume production environments. Impact Coatings said the unique benefits of MaxPhase make it useful for contacts within a variety of electronics applications, such as consumer, computer, smart card, automotive, industrial, power, military, etc.

The properties also make it a very interesting coating for other applications, such as EMI shielding, fuel cells, bipolar batteries, etc.