Electroplating (nonfiction)

Electroplating factory.

Electroplating is a process that uses electric current to reduce dissolved metal cations so that they form a coherent metal coating on an electrode.

The term is also used for electrical oxidation of anions onto a solid substrate, as in the formation silver chloride on silver wire to make silver/silver-chloride electrodes.

Electroplating is primarily used to change the surface properties of an object (e.g. abrasion and wear resistance, corrosion protection, lubricity, aesthetic qualities, etc.), but may also be used to build up thickness on undersized parts or to form objects by electroforming.

The process used in electroplating is called electrodeposition. It is analogous to a galvanic cell acting in reverse.

In the News

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  Chrome Plover showing off their latest musical electroplating equipment. (Early publicity photo.)

Fiction cross-reference

• Musical electroplating ensemble

Nonfiction cross-reference

External links:

• Electroplating @ Wikipedia