METAL ARTICLE HAVING DECORATIVE GRAPH-TEXT AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a metal article having decorative graph-text. The metal article comprises includes a metal substrate having micropores on the surface, thermal sublimation ink filled in a portion of the micropores, and a pore-sealing layer located on the surface of the metal substrate. The present disclosure also provides a preparation method for a metal article having decorative graph-text.

Claims

1. A metal article having decorative graph-text, wherein the metal article comprises a metal substrate having micropores on a surface of the metal substrate, thermal sublimation ink filled in a portion of the micropores, and a pore-sealing layer located on the surface of the metal substrate.

2. The metal article according to claim 1, wherein the micropores have a D50 from 1 nm to 100 m.

3. The metal article according to claim 1, wherein the micropores have a depth from 10 nm to 100 m.

4. The metal article according to claim 1, wherein the metal substrate is one of an aluminum alloy, a stainless steel, and a magnesium alloy.

5. A preparation method for a metal article having decorative graph-text, wherein the method comprises the following steps: S1, performing a micropores treatment on a metal substrate to obtain the metal substrate having micropores on a surface of the metal substrate; and printing thermal sublimation ink onto thermal sublimation paper according to a desired graph-text shape; S2, matching and attaching the graph-text on the thermal sublimation paper to the surface of the metal substrate; S3, heating the thermal sublimation ink to cause the thermal sublimation ink to enter the micropores on the surface of the metal substrate, so as to form the decorative graph-text; S4. removing the thermal sublimation paper and sealing pores, thereby obtaining the metal article having the decorative graph-text.

6. The preparation method according to claim 5 further comprises, before step S3, placing the metal substrate to which the thermal sublimation paper is attached into a sealing apparatus and vacuuming the sealing apparatus.

7. The preparation method according to claim 5, wherein the method of the micropores treatment is one or two combination treatment methods selecting from phosphating treatment, silanization treatment, anodizing treatment, and etching treatment.

8. The preparation method according to claim 5, wherein the micropores have a D50 from 1 nm to 100 m.

9. The preparation method according to claim 5, wherein the micropores have a depth from 10 nm to 100 m.

10. The preparation method according to claim 6, wherein the method for heating the thermal sublimation ink in step S3 is to bake the sealing apparatus, wherein the baking temperature is 80 C.-240 C., and the baking time is 2-360 minutes.

11. The preparation method according to claim 5, wherein the method for sealing pores is sealing pores with water or a sealing agent.

12. The preparation method according to claim 5 further comprising an oven-drying step after subjecting said metal substrate to said micropores treatment, wherein the oven-drying temperature is 80-100 C.

13. The preparation method according to claim 5, wherein the metal substrate is one of an aluminum alloy, stainless steel, and a magnesium alloy.

14. A metal article having decorative graph-text prepared by the preparation method according to claim 5.

15. The metal article according to claim 2, wherein the micropores have a depth from 10 nm to 100 m.

16. The metal article according to claim 2, wherein the metal substrate is one of an aluminum alloy, a stainless steel, and a magnesium alloy.

17. The metal article according to claim 3, wherein the metal substrate is one of an aluminum alloy, a stainless steel, and a magnesium alloy.

18. The preparation method according to claim 6, wherein the method of the micropores treatment is one or two combination treatment methods selecting from phosphating treatment, silanization treatment, anodizing treatment, and etching treatment.

19. The preparation method according to claim 6, wherein the micropores have a D50 from 1 nm to 100 m.

20. The preparation method according to claim 7, wherein the micropores have a D50 from 1 nm to 100 m.

Description

EXAMPLE 1

[0049] Achieving 3D decorative graph-text on a surface of a magnesium alloy comprises the following steps:

1) first, pre-treating the magnesium alloy material with curved surface, subjecting the surface of the magnesium alloy to oil and contamination cleaning with SP-101 type degreasing agent, RC-800 type derusting agent and water respectively, so as to expose the bright surface of the magnesium alloy; and then baking at 90 C. for 30 minutes;
2) subjecting the cleaned magnesium alloy to a micropores treatment, wherein the specific method of the micropores treatment is: immersing the metal substrate into a phosphating solution composed of iron dihydrogen phosphate, manganese dihydrogen phosphate and zinc dihydrogen phosphate according to 2:1:2, adjusting the pH value to be 2, and performing the treatment at 50 C. for 15 minutes; thereby obtaining the micropores with D50 of 1 m and a depth of 50 m after the treatment;
3) adjusting the temperature of the oven to be 90 C., and baking the micropores treated magnesium alloy substrate for 30 minutes;

[0050] 4) taking a piece of thermal sublimation paper with a thickness of about 0.09 mm, and printing thermal sublimation ink on the thermal sublimation paper to form the desired graph-text;

5) taking the oven-dried magnesium alloy substrate, and attaching the graph-text on the thermal sublimation paper to the magnesium alloy substrate with the matched position;
6) placing the magnesium alloy substrate to which the thermal sublimation paper is attached in a sealing apparatus, and vacuuming (with a vacuum degree of 0.05 Pa), so that the sealing apparatus allows the thermal sublimation paper to be closely and omnidirectionally attached to the front face and the lateral face of the magnesium alloy member;
7) placing the sealing apparatus into a baking oven having been heated, wherein the baking temperature is 120 C., and the baking time is 240 minutes;
8) after baking, naturally cooling, taking out the magnesium alloy member, removing the attached thermal sublimation paper, placing the transferred magnesium alloy member in pure water, heating at 95 C. for 30 minutes for a pore-sealing treatment, then washing with water, subsequently baking in the oven at 90 C. for 30 minutes, and oven drying; thereby obtaining the metal article A1 of the present disclosure.

EXAMPLE 2

[0051] Achieving 3D decorative graph-text on a surface of stainless steel comprises the following steps:

1) first, pre-treating the stainless steel material with curved surface, subjecting the surface of the aluminum alloy to oil and contamination cleaning with SP-101 type degreasing agent, RC-800 type derusting agent and water respectively, so as to expose the bright surface of the stainless steel; and then baking at 90 C. for 30 minutes;
2) subjecting the cleaned stainless steel to a micropores treatment, wherein the specific method of the micropores treatment is: placing the metal substrate in a 65% ethyltriethoxysilane solution, adjusting the pH to be 8 with glacial acetic acid; soaking for 30 minutes, and then taking out and placing into a thermostatic drying chamber at 80 C. for baking for 1 hour; thereby obtaining the micropores with D50 of 5 m and a depth of 10 m after the treatment;
3) adjusting the temperature of the oven to be 90 C., and baking the micropores treated stainless steel substrate for 30 minutes;
4) taking a piece of thermal sublimation paper with a thickness of about 0.09 mm, and printing thermal sublimation ink on the thermal sublimation paper to form the desired graph-text;
5) taking the oven-dried stainless steel substrate, and attaching the graph-text on the thermal sublimation paper to the stainless steel substrate with the matched position;
6) placing the stainless steel substrate to which the thermal sublimation paper is attached in a sealing apparatus, and vacuuming (with a vacuum degree of 0.05 Pa), so that the sealing apparatus allows the thermal sublimation paper to be closely and omnidirectionally attached to the front face and the lateral face of the stainless steel;
7) placing the sealing apparatus into a baking oven having been heated, wherein the baking temperature is 240 C., and the baking time is 2 minutes;
8) after baking, naturally cooling, taking out the stainless steel member, removing the attached thermal sublimation paper, placing the transferred stainless steel member in a pore-sealing agent solution of 6% nickel acetate, soaking at 95 C. for 20 minutes for pore-sealing, then washing with water, subsequently baking in the oven at 90 C. for 30 minutes, and oven drying; thereby obtaining the metal article A2 of the present disclosure.

EXAMPLE 3

[0052] Achieving 3D decorative graph-text on a surface of an aluminium alloy comprises the following steps:

1) first, pre-treating the aluminium alloy material with curved surface, subjecting the surface of the aluminium alloy to oil and contamination cleaning with SP-101 type degreasing agent, RC-800 type derusting agent and water respectively, so as to expose the bright surface of the aluminium alloy; and then baking at 90 C. for 30 minutes;
2) subjecting the cleaned aluminium alloy to a micropores treatment, wherein the specific method of the micropores treatment is: immersing the metal substrate into an anolyte (composed of 160 g/L of sulfuric acid), and controlling the current density to be 1.3 A/dm.sup.2 at 25 C. for treating for 20 minutes; thereby obtaining the micropores with D50 of 50 nm and a depth of 5 m after the treatment;
3) adjusting the temperature of the oven to be 90 C., and baking the micropores treated aluminium alloy substrate for 30 minutes;
4) taking a piece of thermal sublimation paper with a thickness of about 0.09 mm, and printing thermal sublimation ink on the thermal sublimation paper to form the desired graph-text;
5) taking the oven-dried aluminium alloy substrate, and attaching the graph-text on the thermal sublimation paper to the aluminium alloy substrate with the matched position;
6) placing the aluminium alloy substrate to which the thermal sublimation paper is attached in a sealing apparatus, and vacuuming (with a vacuum degree of 0.05 Pa), so that the sealing apparatus allows the thermal sublimation paper to be closely and omnidirectionally attached to the front face and the lateral face of the aluminium alloy member;
7) placing the sealing apparatus into a baking oven having been heated, wherein the baking temperature is 80 C., and the baking time is 360 minutes;
8) after baking, naturally cooling, taking out the aluminium alloy member, removing the attached thermal sublimation paper, placing the transferred aluminium alloy member in a pore-sealing agent solution of 6% nickel acetate, soaking at 95 C. for 20 minutes for pore-sealing, then washing with water, subsequently baking in the oven at 90 C. for 30 minutes, and oven drying; thereby obtaining the metal article A3 of the present disclosure.

EXAMPLE 4

[0053] Achieving 3D decorative graph-text on a surface of an aluminium alloy comprises the following steps:

1) first, pre-treating the aluminium alloy material with curved surface, subjecting the surface of the aluminium alloy to oil and contamination cleaning with SP-101 type degreasing agent, RC-800 type derusting agent and water respectively, so as to expose the bright surface of the aluminium alloy; and then baking at 90 C. for 30 minutes;
2) subjecting the cleaned aluminium alloy to a micropores treatment, wherein the specific method of the micropores treatment is: pre-treating the metal substrate with a sulfuric acid solution, wherein, the conditions include sulfuric acid concentration of 10%; voltage of 15V; soaking time of 20min, thereby forming the metal substrate with irregular surface and corrosion pores; and then placing the pre-treated metal substrate into a alkali etching solution for electrochemical corrosion, wherein the concentration of the corrosion solution is 5%-10%, and the soaking time is 10 min, thereby forming finer pores on the metal substrate with corrosion pores; resulting in obtaining the micropores with D50 of 10 nm and a depth of 30 m after the treatment;
3) adjusting the temperature of the oven to be 90 C., and baking the micropores treated aluminium alloy substrate for 30 minutes;
4) taking a piece of thermal sublimation paper with a thickness of about 0.09 mm, and printing thermal sublimation ink on the thermal sublimation paper to form the desired graph-text;
5) taking the oven-dried aluminium alloy substrate, and attaching the graph-text on the thermal sublimation paper to the aluminium alloy substrate with the matched position;
6) placing the aluminium alloy substrate to which the thermal sublimation paper is attached in a sealing apparatus, and vacuuming (with a vacuum degree of 0.05 Pa), so that the sealing apparatus allows the thermal sublimation paper to be closely and omnidirectionally attached to the front face and the lateral face of the aluminium alloy member;
7) placing the sealing apparatus into a baking oven having been heated, wherein the baking temperature is 190 C., and the baking time is 30 minutes;
8) after baking, naturally cooling, taking out the aluminium alloy member, removing the attached thermal sublimation paper, placing the transferred aluminium alloy member in a pore-sealing agent solution of 6% nickel acetate, soaking at 95 C. for 20 minutes for pore-sealing, then washing with water, subsequently baking in the oven at 90 C. for 30 minutes, and oven drying; thereby obtaining the metal article A4 of the present disclosure.

Comparative Example 1

[0054] Achieving flat decorative graph-text on a surface of an aluminium alloy comprises the following steps:

the first step, spraying a layer of polyurethane coating on the surface of the aluminum alloy with a film thickness of 20 m;
the second step, printing thermal sublimation ink onto the thermal sublimation paper;
the third step, bringing the printed thermal sublimation paper into contact with the coated surface on the aluminum alloy;
the fourth step, heating at 180 C. by a hot stamping machine, adsorbing the thermal sublimation ink by the coating, so as to transfer the graph-text from the thermal sublimation paper onto the metal product, thereby obtaining the product CA1.

Comparative Example 2

[0055] Achieving 3D decorative graph-text on a surface of an aluminium alloy comprises the following steps:

the first step, spraying a layer of polyurethane coating on the surface of the aluminum alloy with a film thickness of 20 m;
the second step, printing thermal sublimation ink onto the thermal sublimation paper;
the third step, bringing the printed thermal sublimation paper into contact with the coated surface on the aluminum alloy;
the fourth step, heating at 180 C. by a hot stamping machine, adsorbing the thermal sublimation ink by the coating, so as to transfer the graph-text from the thermal sublimation paper onto the metal product, thereby obtaining the product CA2.

Performance Tests

1 Salt Spray Test

[0056] 1) Placing the products A1-A4 and CA1-CA2 in a salt spray case, and spraying continuously for 2 hours at temperature of +35 C. (NaCl solution concentration: 5%, pH being 6.5-7.2, supply air pressure being 10-25 psi, spray rate being 0.75-3 c.c./80cm2.hr);
2) After spraying, conveying the sample to a storage case with a temperature of +40 C. and a relative humidity of 80% for placing for 96 hours;
3) Taking out the sample, inspecting with the naked eyes after recovering at room temperature for two hours. The results are shown in Table 1.

2 Metal Texture

[0057] The surface metal effects of the products A1-A4 and CA1-CA2 were observed with the naked eyes, and the results are shown in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Salt spray test Metal texture A1 The graph-text on the metal Haying a metal substrate surface is intact. texture A2 The graph-text on the metal Haying a metal substrate surface is intact. texture A3 The graph-text on the metal Haying a metal substrate surface is intact. texture A4 The graph-text on the metal Haying a metal substrate surface is intact. texture CA1 The graph-text on the metal None of metal substrate surface is intact. texture CA2 The graph-text on the metal None of metal substrate surface is incomplete. texture

[0058] It can be seen from Table 1 that the surface of the metal article obtained by the method of the present disclosure has intact graph-text and a metallic texture, and can obtain a graph-text effect of a 3D effect.

[0059] In the description of the present specification, the description with reference to the terms one example, some examples, embodiment, specific embodiment, or some embodiments and the like means the specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the example or embodiment are included in at least one example or embodiment of the present disclosure. In the present specification, the schematic representation of the terms referred above does not necessarily refer to the same example or embodiment. Furthermore, the specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described may be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more examples or embodiments.

[0060] While the examples of the present invention have been shown and described, it can be understood by the person skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, replacement and variations can be made on these examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and the scope of the disclosure is defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.