A white, nontoxic, solderable soft deposit is useful for its conductivity and resistance to
corrosion and tarnish. It is used primarily in the electronics, semi conductor and food packaging
industries. There are two types of electroplated tin; bright tin and matte tin. Bright tin is coated
in an electroplating solution that uses brighteners and has an excellent bright, smooth, cosmetic
appearance although it is susceptible to stress issues because of the organics used in the
brighteners. Matte tin which is dull white with small whiskers in appearance has less internal
stress issues than that of bright tin because brighteners are not used.
The thickness coatings of tin plate can range from 1.5 microns for short term contact
applications to 30 microns for very severe service conditions.
Typical specifications used for tin electroplating include Mil-T-10727 and ASTM B545
