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Specialty Chemistry Forums => Citizen Chemist => Topic started by: OXTyler on March 07, 2020, 07:02:59 PM

Title: Tried a homemade experiment, not sure what happened
Post by: OXTyler on March 07, 2020, 07:02:59 PM

So I tried to do electroplating at home, and admittedly I didnt do enough research due to curiosity getting the better of me. So I used a chunk of brass as one electrode, and a quarter as the other, I put them both into a solution that was baking soda and water, I was trying to plate the quarter with bronze, and I realize now I should have used a different electrolyte solution. However, now my solution has turned a blue color and im not sure exactly what happened, I think the zinc reacted with the bicarbonate from the baking soda, either that or I made copper carbonate, Im honestly a bit lost and was hoping for direction with it.

Title: Re: Tried a homemade experiment, not sure what happened
Post by: Borek on March 08, 2020, 05:18:03 AM

Blue in such cases is almost always copper.

Generally speaking you can't electroplate with an alloy (like brass), you can electroplate with a single metal (like copper).

For copper plating you need low pH, (bi)carbonate bath won't work.