Throughout the world there are strict regulations that limit the application of hexavalent chromium in the technical field of metal surface treatments. Furthermore, with steadily increased in its price of manufacturing, handling, application and waste-treatment, the research and development for its substitutes and alternative processes are urgently in need. In addition, such restriction will also be applied to the use of hexavalent chromium in the near future. This foreseeable restriction, undoubtedly, will bring significant problems to the domestic auto, steel, and metal material industries because, currently, they are heavily dependent on the metal surface treatment using hexavalent chromium. To alleviate such problems, alternate metal surface treatments to substitute the hexavalent chromium is a immediate task that needs to be resolved. This paper gives an overview of the currently available hexavalent chromium and trivalent chromium processes, and then it attempts to give an insight to a new trivalent chromium plating process for possible substitution of the hexavalent chromium plating process.

Throughout the world there are strict regulations that limit the application of hexavalent chromium in the technical field of metal surface treatments. Furthermore, with steadily increased in its price of manufacturing, handling, application and waste-treatment, the research and development for its substitutes and alternative processes are urgently in need. In addition, such restriction will also be applied to the use of hexavalent chromium in the near future. This foreseeable restriction, undoubtedly, will bring significant problems to the domestic auto, steel, and metal material industries because, currently, they are heavily dependent on the metal surface treatment using hexavalent chromium. To alleviate such problems, alternate metal surface treatments to substitute the hexavalent chromium is a immediate task that needs to be resolved. This paper gives an overview of the currently available hexavalent chromium and trivalent chromium processes, and then it attempts to give an insight to a new trivalent chromium plating process for possible substitution of the hexavalent chromium plating process.