An exploration of coatings
So as of writing we are in the process of updating the wiki I thought it'd be good to get a more updated coating thread as much of the others were scattered or outdated. We know that the best coating for magnets is TiN. Until something new comes out that's the standard. But as we hope to move past magnets and onto bigger and better things we need to discuss coating other items. If it's a small electronics package titanium works but I'm thinking smaller. Let's discuss how we would or could coat items say the size of a quarter or smaller. Ideally coatings that are doable either at home or ina lab setting that aren't going to wear out quickly. I'm working on a personal project for example that will be fairly small but I would like to avoid using glass and ideally avoid high temp.
So lets do two catagories with different criteria:
1. low temp and easy (not good for magnets but good for other things)
Roomtempish curing
easy enough to do at home
ideally fairly inexpensive
Biocompatable (obviously)
Limited to no fouling
Doens't need to be hard, can be squishy so long as it doesn't rip
So strong and hard to fragmet
2. Hightemp and higher tech (lab setting or company sendout) (rfid stuff, magnets, transdermals, etc)
Biocompatable (obviously)
Limited to no fouling
Hard
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Its a short read though but i figure it wont take much for you guys to source more info. It may be worth looking into if it can be done without crazy complex wwii vacuum monsters or heat. It doesnt discuss the characteristics of the coating.
http://defensetech.org/2014/07/21/navy-develops-bio-coatings-for-implants-dressings/
It doesnt list sources either so it could be misinformation. Ill leave that for those in the know.
Platinum is also a fairly hard metal, so it would be fairly abrasion resistant.
The metals can also be electroplated on so there is no damaging temperature involved. I do think though that the magnets would need to be plated in gold first for good plating adhesion. And with gold being the underlying plating any pinholes in the platinum would only expose gold underneath, an also bio inert material.
The plating is only microns thick as well, so it wouldn't disrupt the strength of the magnet.
Platinum is also not magnetic so the plating process in theory shouldn't be disrupted.
If they have been tested and or considered what were the pros and cons?
Unless I am missing something huge the only problem is the price of the plating.
If no one has tried this and no one can present a valid reason it wouldn't work I am inclined to try it and would be happy to post my findings.
I did do a search on here and found only a few mentions that platinum would be acceptable but I would like to go more in depth.
I am open to any comments or suggestions.
Palladium on the other hand is much easier to come by in the us for about the same price as platinum.
The easiest by far is Rhodium, almost any jeweler can plate that directly to nickel or gold. Rhodium solution can also be purchased for cheap online.
So in response to why people are coating in everything but platinum is most likely the difficulty in obtaining it.
Ill do some more reading on if rhodium is a good option, if not then ill prob go with palladium.
Another other option is just straight gold plating, in talking to an electroplater they have several variations of gold plating from some very hard plates to some very thick plates upwards of .00050" and they're set up to do it so it would be a lot less painful cost wise.
Oh well if I can't find a plating then at least I can say I tried, I can only imagine what you guys went though in just trying to find titanium nitride.
Thanks for your input your experience in this matter is is worth more than platinum haha.
I was recently quoted 5 to 6 dollars a magnet for platinum plating, he did not really want to bother with this though, they take extra effort to plate because they're tiny and stick to everything. He referred me to another company but I have yet to call them.
Multiple jewelers however, don't seem to have any problem with rhodium plating a bunch of tiny magnets. So that may be the best option. I might get some plated just to see.
I was also looking at a way to suspend the magnets between two pieces of bismuth and then adding a piss thin layer of UV harden dental composite resin.The bismuth repels the magnet allowing it to float in mid air and then you can apply a layer without the mag touching any surface and also vacuum de-gas the resin before hardening.
EDIT:
Also is there anything I should know about melting down silicon? Like sterility procedures temp warnings, may be smell I shouldn't smell. Someone here as to have melted the stuff before.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2mnvek3ek61ovf9/31197_ftp.pdf?dl=0
If it helps you guys out I am more than willing to contribute. I'm rather new to the whole biohacking thing, but think what you guys are doing is great! I truly believe this is the way to the future.
Just wondering, and this is probably kind of an obvious question for those with more experience, but has anyone tried putting the magnets in a really thin glass coating? I'm assuming someone has and that there's a reason we don't do it... But why? And why don't we inject magnets like we do with RFID chips? Is it just difficulty with placement? Size? Etc?