There was a time when if you told someone that you wanted to plate something in gold, it could be assumed as an act of vanity. Perhaps you were plating the fishhook that caught your prize largemouth bass or the pen that you used to sign your biggest contract. These days, however, gold electroplating is an industrial procedure that is all about function and getting the most out of your tools and equipment. The many benefits of gold plating make it a process that is applied to a number of parts across many different industries.
The Electroplating Process
In its simplest form, electroplating is simply melting one metal onto another one. This is accomplished by first mixing the plating metal, often gold or silver into an electrolyte solution. Often this is done by first reducing the plating metal into a metal salt by treating it with certain acids or bases. Once the plating metal is dissolved into the electrolyte, the metal to be plated is placed in the electrolyte and electrical current is added. The current pushes atoms of the plating metal onto the surface of the other metal, coating it evenly.
A metal part being plated needs to be completely clean for the plating to bond properly, so it may be dipped in acid beforehand to clean it. Impurities in the gold or silver plating tend to make soldering more difficult, so higher purity metal is often used. An under-plating of nickel is also sometimes applied to prevent certain base metals from degrading the coating and diminishing its non-oxidizing properties.
Benefits of Gold Electroplating
Aside from looking really nice, gold plating helps a part in a few different ways. First off, it adds corrosion resistance and wear resistance. It also conducts electricity effectively and uniformly for long periods of time. Finally it makes a part easier to solder.
Applications for Gold Plated Parts
The electrical conductivity of gold plated parts makes them in very high demand in the electronics industry. Electrical switch contacts, barrels and pins all often get gold coatings, and these parts are used in everything from cell phones to computers to complicated avionics. Gold plated parts are used by the military, auto companies, aerospace companies and more.
PEP General Metal Finishing provides expert gold plating services as well as other metal finishing services for many industries and applications. To learn more about their services, visit www.pepgenmetal.com.
