ELECTROPLATING – A SIMPLE PROCESS WITH AN EFFECTIVE OUTCOME

Ever wondered how a shiny piece of jewellery gets its shiny finish. Well in this post I will describe the rise in the plating industry, the process of electroplating and how people make a living off this common finishing practice.

As the understanding of electroplating increased around the mid-1800s due to new understanding and development in electrochemistry, the introduction to the commercial use of the process became more popular with the use of metals such as nickel and zinc used to plate large-scale objects. Soon, the importance of the plating industry increased exponentially with the development of electric generators in the late 1800s to prevent machinery and automotive parts from corroding away. This became a sustainable commercial venture due to the availability of higher currents and the possibility to plate objects in bulk. Over the next 100 years, with the machinery in the world quickly developing and the need to make products aesthetically pleasing whilst also ensuring the metals are protected from corrosion, further development into plating more metals with elements such as chromium and bronze became available and this was used by a majority of the growing aviation industry.

A common example of electroplating is copper electroplating using electricity to drive the chemical reactions. An electric current is passed through a solution that called electrolyte that conducts electricity. To create this current two electrodes are dipped into the electrolyte solution and connected to a power supply. When the current is turned on the positively charged electrode (anode) and negatively charged electrode (cathode) gain a charge. A copper-based electrolyte solution is used, and the anode is copper. The copper from the plating comes from the electrolyte solution as the positively charged copper ions get attracted to the cathode to form a layer over the metal, which in turn has its stock replaced from the copper in the copper anode. The plating thickness can be controlled by adjusting the immersion time in the plating tank.

Using a similar process, electroplating has become an achievable and therefore common finishing practice which gives everyday products such as jewellery an aesthetically pleasing finish while also protecting the metal the product is constructed from. Below I have linked a video of how one man made this simple but effective process into a successful commercial business by electroplating everyday gadgets with a gold surface to give the products an expensive looking finish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64P6V_1PjSU

References:

https://nearsay.com/c/249943/53384/what-is-electroplating-why-do-jewelry-manufacturers-use-it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroplating

https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/metals/how-gold-plating-is-done-step-by-step/