[maxvortex]

Is it possible to lead plate aluminium wire mesh ?
I'm making one experiment where i want to plate standard aluminium wire mash with "pure" lead. I’m not using tin, its pure lead.

Max

[eazye1334]

No, it is no simple task to plate onto aluminum due to it's natural passivity. Before doing anything like lead, you would likely need a zincate plate followed by either an electroless nickel strike or a cyanide copper strike. Without those as a base layer, it is likely your lead plating will not adhere to the aluminum.

[eazye1334]

You'd also likely need to get lead fluoroborate as your electrolyte, and that's definitely not something you should be doing at home, unless you've got a self-contained breathing apparatus and full body protection at home. It's nasty, very dangerous stuff.

[maxvortex]

Damn :-) That really seams complicated and nasty to do.
Ok i give up on this but thank you for your reply.

Max

[eazye1334]

Yeah, outsourcing aluminum plating tasks is usually the best plan, and I've never heard of anyone plating lead at home. Really, the only step of the process that is common for home is the electroless nickel plating which is somewhat easy, especially compared to the rest of the steps you'd be looking at.

And just as a side note in case you're interested, nickel, stainless steel, titanium, cobalt, and rhodium all have issues similar to aluminum, although for different reasons. If you ever have more plating questions, I currently work as the chemical engineer for an electroplating/electroforming shop, so I may be able to answer some of your questions.