LumiShield, a “skunkworks” project turned spinoff company from Carnegie Mellon and the National Energy Technology Laboratory has introduced a novel aluminum electroplating process called Lumidize. When fully commercialized, with the support of the National Science Foundation’s SBIR program, it has the potential to displace many less sustainable technologies based on heavy metals and phosphates.
The replacement of toxic metals and phosphates with aluminum will halt the former’s release into the environment, and the attendant damage and costs. The process may also be less expensive than the incumbent technologies, due to reductions in 3 critical areas:
- plating solution consumption
- waste treatment
- metal costs
