A method for production of a flat steel product including at least the following steps, completed in a continuous process: providing a flat steel product, wherein a protective metal layer of Zn, a Zn—Al alloy, a Zn—Mg alloy or a Zn—Mg—Al alloy is applied to at least one side by hot dip coating; at least partly removing a native oxide layer present on the surface of the protective metal layer by wetting this surface with an acidic solution of sulfuric acid, sulfurous acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, phosphonic acid, nitric acid, formic acid, oxalic acid, acetic acid, citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, nitrous acid or hydrofluoric acid; activating the surface of the protective metal layer by applying an aqueous activation solution to the surface of the protective metal layer; and phosphating the activated surface of the protective metal layer by applying an aqueous phosphating solution to the activated surface.

A method for production of a flat steel product including at least the following steps, completed in a continuous process: providing a flat steel product, wherein a protective metal layer of Zn, a Zn—Al alloy, a Zn—Mg alloy or a Zn—Mg—Al alloy is applied to at least one side by hot dip coating; at least partly removing a native oxide layer present on the surface of the protective metal layer by wetting this surface with an acidic solution of sulfuric acid, sulfurous acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, phosphonic acid, nitric acid, formic acid, oxalic acid, acetic acid, citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, nitrous acid or hydrofluoric acid; activating the surface of the protective metal layer by applying an aqueous activation solution to the surface of the protective metal layer; and phosphating the activated surface of the protective metal layer by applying an aqueous phosphating solution to the activated surface.

An exemplary embodiment relates to improving a driving speed of a shape-memory-alloy applied as an artificial muscle, and to improving heat conduction and thermal convection by growing copper nanowires on the surface of the shape-memory-alloy to improve a natural cooling rate and a driving speed of the shape-memory-alloy.

A bonding structure formed on a substrate includes an indium layer and a passivating nickel plating formed on the indium layer. The nickel plating serves to prevent a reaction involving the indium layer.

An exemplary embodiment relates to improving a driving speed of a shape-memory-alloy applied as an artificial muscle, and to improving heat conduction and thermal convection by growing copper nanowires on the surface of the shape-memory-alloy to improve a natural cooling rate and a driving speed of the shape-memory-alloy.

The water outlet of a subsystem that includes an ultraviolet oxidation device and the water inlet of each substrate treatment device are connected to each other via a main pipe. A hydrogen peroxide removal device is installed between the ultraviolet oxidation device of the subsystem and a non-regenerative ion-exchange device. In addition, a carbon dioxide supply device is installed at the middle of a pipe that branches from the water outlet of the subsystem to reach the substrate treatment device. According to an aspect, the hydrogen peroxide removal device is filled with a platinum-group metal catalyst. Thus, ultrapure water passed through the ultraviolet oxidation device is used as a base to produce carbonated water in which the concentration of hydrogen peroxide dissolved therein is limited to 2 μg/L or less and to which carbon dioxide is added to adjust resistivity to be within the range of 0.03 to 5.0 MΩ.Math.cm.

There is provided a cleaning method and a cleaning apparatus capable of removing dirt on electrical contacts, the dirt being unable to be removed with deionized water, without adversely affecting a plating solution and a substrate holder which is a member for holding a substrate. A cleaning method according to the present disclosure is a cleaning method for a substrate holder having electrical contacts for supplying electric power to a substrate by contacting the substrate to plate the substrate, the method including a cleaning step of cleaning the electrical contacts attached to the substrate holder with a citric acid aqueous solution.

A surface treatment agent capable of forming a hexavalent chromium-free chemical conversion coating that can provide an excellent corrosion-resistant coating on various metallic materials; a metallic material having a surface treatment coating obtained therefrom; and a method of producing the same. A free fluorine ion-containing surface treatment agent for surface-treating a metallic material, which is obtained by mixing at least one supply source (A) of trivalent chromium-containing ions A; a supply source (B) of ions B that are at least one selected from titanium-containing ions and zirconium-containing ions; a water-soluble or water-dispersible compound (C) containing an alkoxysilyl group, an aromatic ring, a hydroxy group directly bonded to the aromatic ring, and at least one of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary amino groups, wherein the alkoxysilyl group is bonded to the nitrogen atom of the amino group directly or via an alkylene group; and a fluorine-containing compound (D) providing fluorine-containing ions.

Cleaning solution for cleaning and/or wetting metal surfaces, comprising at least one acid, a first surfactant, which is an alkyl-poly(ethyleneglycol-co-propyleneglycol)-ether having a cloud point of ≤25° C., a second surfactant, which is selected from the group consisting of i) an alkyl-poly(ethyleneglycol-co-propyleneglycol)-ether having a cloud point of ≥30° C., ii) an alkyl-polyethyleneglycol-ether having a cloud point of ≥45° C.
wherein the cloud points are determined according to European Standard EN 1890:2006, item 8.2 of German Version, with the modification that 10 wt % H.sub.2SO.sub.4 is used as solvent and that the concentration of the surfactant is 1000 mg/L.

The present disclosure provides improved wet etch processes and methods for etching noble metals. More specifically, the present disclosure provides various embodiments of wet etch processes and methods that utilize new etch chemistries for etching noble metals, such as ruthenium (Ru), gold (Au), platinum (Pt) and iridium (Ir), in a wet etch process. In general, the disclosed embodiments expose a noble metal surface to a first etch solution to chemically modify the noble metal surface and form a noble metal salt passivation layer, which can then be selectively dissolved in a second etch solution to etch the noble metal surface.