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Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: ashok on July 24, 2020, 04:55:13 AM

Title: Electroplating with copper , copper is not permanently coated on metal!
Post by: ashok on July 24, 2020, 04:55:13 AM

Hi , I am trying to plate copper with the following:
copper sulphate
Distilled water
copper metal as anode.
metal as cathode.
When I am trying to plate, copper is getting deposited on the metal part but when I wipe off it is coming off very easily. Is there a way that i can plate copper to stay on the metal for long time ( may be days)?
I tried with 3Volts to 12 volts but same response.

Title: Re: Electroplating with copper , copper is not permanently coated on metal!
Post by: Enthalpy on July 24, 2020, 08:27:07 AM

Welcome, ashok!

That's a traditional problem with electroplating. Copper, nickel and few more are easy to deposit, but adherence is always difficult. It's not so much a matter of durability, rather of adherence force.

Achieving adherence needs very long experimentation, and only very few recipes work. Which means: don't re-develop that by yourself, stick to known processes. I mean, stick for real. And if you must guarantee a result to a customer for years, better let a contractor make the plating. It's like joints, bearings or gears: specialized companies do only that because it's long to learn.

The process includes:
- Preparation of the surfaces!
- Bath temperature
- Bath composition
- Current density
- Voodoo

A smooth film would be one serious difficulty more. Besides the already mentioned parameters, it often involves pulsed current.