Fengfan Brightener W-97 is the addition agent that turns a plain cyanide copper bath into a full-bright one. Added to a bath built on cuprous cyanide and free sodium cyanide, it refines the grain, lifts reflectivity and keeps the copper ductile, so the layer stays bright without the brittleness that later shows up as cracking or flaking on formed and bent parts. Deposition is fast and consumption is steady, which means the bath behaves the same way on the second shift as it did on the first, instead of drifting quietly until someone re-analyses the tank.
Metal plating services use it where the copper has to look right and survive the next step: a decorative copper-nickel-chrome stack, a copper layer laid down before nickel, or a functional copper coating on electrical parts. It goes into an existing cyanide copper system rather than demanding a new one, so it slots into a running metal plating process without re-piping tanks or retraining the line.
Where this brightener earns its place is on the line rather than in the beaker. It goes into the bath you already run, at a make-up level that is straightforward to measure and straightforward to top up, so the plating team does not have to rebuild its addition schedule around unfamiliar chemistry. Consumption is steady and the working window is wide enough that ordinary swings in temperature and current density do not push the deposit out of specification — which is exactly what a busy industrial metal plating shop wants from an additive it intends to live with.
Paired with cathode movement or air agitation, it spreads current more evenly across the part, and that is what keeps deep recesses, shielded faces and closely racked work from showing streaks or dull patches. A stable bath also means the operator checks and adjusts less often, which shows up as fewer interruptions and less variation between shifts. For a shop running a metal plating process to a finish specification, that predictability is worth more than a marginally cheaper drum.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Cyanide copper plating brightener |
| Bath system | Cuprous cyanide with free sodium cyanide |
| Deposit | Full bright, low porosity |
| Cuprous cyanide | 50~75 g/L |
| Sodium cyanide (free) | 10~15 g/L |
| W-97 make-up | 10~12 ml/L |
| Temperature | 50~65 °C |
| Current density | 0.5~3 A/dm² |
| SK:SA | 1:2.5~3 |
| Cathode movement (or air agitation) | Required |
| Current efficiency | Above 85% |
| Dosing | Measured by volume against the make-up level |
Choosing the right match is where most sourcing decisions stall. As a trading supplier, we keep one point of contact from first enquiry to after-sales: tell us what you are making and the conditions you work under, and we shortlist the closest matches from our supplier network, compare specifications and arrange samples before you commit to a bulk order. If something does not behave as expected, we work with the supplying partner on the cause and a practical fix, and stay with the case until it is settled. Email, WeChat or WhatsApp enquiries get a reply within 24 hours.
It is an addition agent for electroplating metal from a cyanide copper bath, not a replacement for the copper source. The bath itself is built on cuprous cyanide, which supplies the copper, and free sodium cyanide, which keeps that copper in solution. The brightener controls how the copper comes out of solution — grain size, reflectivity and ductility — which is why its dosing range is narrow and the two cyanide components are analysed separately from it.
It raises it from two directions. Current efficiency above 85% means most of the current you pay for is doing useful work, so a given thickness builds in less time. Steady consumption means you are not adding extra brightener to compensate for a bath that has drifted, which is where a lot of hidden additive cost sits. On a high-volume industrial metal plating line those two together move cost per good part more than the drum price does.
It is formulated for compatibility with similar brightener systems, which matters in metal electroplating where an additive package has often been built up over years. A practical route is to keep the existing package and bring this brightener in at part of the make-up dose, then judge brightness and leveling on production parts before committing the whole tank. The check is the same whether you are plating metal on racks or in barrels: full brightness across the current density range, and a deposit that still bends without cracking. If your existing additives come from a different system, confirm the blend with your sales contact first.
The layer is ductile rather than brittle, and that is the whole point of the formulation. When a part is bent, crimped or drawn after plating, a brittle copper layer cracks and those cracks turn into corrosion paths later; a ductile one moves with the substrate instead. Low porosity supports the same property, because fewer pores mean fewer starting points for attack. Run a bend test on your own parts before scaling up — the right answer depends on your plating process and on the thickness you are building.
Either one, but one of them is required. A still bath will not deliver the brightness the chemistry is capable of. Movement keeps fresh solution at the cathode surface, evens out current distribution and prevents the banding and dull edges that appear at the top of the current density range. When electroplating metal at the upper end of the recommended range with cathode movement or air agitation running throughout the cycle, the deposit stays uniform across recesses and edges alike.
Start with the simple things before blaming the additive. Copper and free cyanide drifting outside the working band, a tank running below temperature, insufficient cathode movement, and contamination dragged in from earlier process steps will all pull brightness down long before the brightener does. Check the analysis, the temperature and the agitation, then look at the dose. If the bath is otherwise in balance and the deposit is still flat, send your sales contact the bath analysis together with a plated sample.
