Electroplating: Electroplating, the process of coating a metal object with a thin layer of another metal by means of electrolysis.

The electroplated coating is usually no more than .002 inch (.05 mm) thick. Electro-forming is a similar process except that the thin layer is applied to a nonmetal that is later destroyed. Electroplating is used to give metal objects a better appearance or to protect them from corrosion, wear, or rust. Tableware, trays, decorative pieces, and jewelry are plated with gold or silver to make them more attractive. Copper is coated with chromium to protect it from corrosion. For the same reason iron and steel are plated with nickel, chromium, tin, zinc, or cadmium. Tin cans, for example, are tin-plated steel, and the chrome trim on automobiles is chromium-plated steel. Platinum, palladium, and rhodium are used to coat other metals with a hard, corrosion-resistant surface.

How Electroplating is Done First, a container is filled with a solution of a salt of the metal that is to form the coating. For example, if copper is to form the coating, the solution will consist of copper sulfate (a salt of copper) mixed with water. This solution is called the electrolytic bath. The object to be plated is immersed in the bath. A metal bar, composed either of the metal that is to form the coating or of a metal that is not affected by the electrolytic bath, is also immersed in the bath. The entire apparatus is called an electrolytic cell.

The object to be coated is connected to the negative terminal of an electric battery or other source of direct current, and becomes the cathode (the electrode through which negative charge enters an electrical device). The metal bar is connected to the positive terminal of the electric power source and becomes the anode (the electrode through which negative charge leaves). When electric power is applied, electrolysis of the electrolytic bath occurs. The bath gives up its metal content to the surface of the cathode. This coating forms an alloy with the metal of the cathode, and adheres to the cathode after the cathode has been removed from the bath. As the electroplating process continues, the metal salts in the bath are used up. If the anode is a bar of the coating metal, the bar dissolves in the bath at the same rate that the bath gives up its metal to the cathode. If the anode is made of another metal, salts of the coating metal must be added to the bath as metal becomes deposited on the cathode. The longer the process continues, the greater the thickness of the coating on the cathode. If the cathode and the metal with which it is to be coated will not combine into an alloy, the cathode is first plated with a metal that will form an alloy with it. The plated cathode is then plated with the desired metal. For example, steel to be silver-plated is first plated with copper, because steel and silver will not form an alloy. Electroless plating: Electroless plating, nonelectrical plating of metals and plastics to achieve uniform coatings by a process of controlled autocatalytic (self-continuing) reduction. Electroless plating uses a redox reaction to deposit metal on an object without the passage of an electric current. Because it allows a constant metal ion concentration to bathe all parts of the object, it deposits metal evenly along edges, inside holes, and over irregularly shaped objects which are difficult to plate evenly with electroplating. Electroless plating is also used to deposit a conductive surface on a nonconductive object to allow it to be electroplated. Electroless technologies have been used for many decades. They involve reduction of a complexed metal using a mild reducing agent, typically formaldehyde. For example, mirrors can be manufactured using this reaction: R-CHO + 2 [Ag(NH3)2]OH 2 Ag(s) + RCOONH4 + H2O + 3 NH3 where R is an organic group or hydrogen. The reaction deposits a shiny coat of elemental silver on the walls of the container.

Copper can be plated using a similar reaction, by reducing complexed copper with formaldehyde in alkaline solution. The reaction is catalyzed by palladium, which is deposited on the surface in extremely small amounts in a previous step. Electroless nickel (EN) plating is a chemical reduction process which depends upon the catalytic reduction process of nickel ions in an aqueous solution (containing a chemical reducing agent) and the subsequent deposition of nickel metal without the use of electrical energy. Due to its exceptional corrosion resistance and high hardness, the process finds wide application on items such as valves, pump parts etc., to enhance the life of components exposed to severe conditions of service ,particularly in the oil field and marine sector. Distinct advantages: Uniformity of the deposits, even on complex shapes. Deposits are often less porous and thus provide better barrier corrosion protection to steel substrates, much superior to that of electroplated nickel and hard chrome The deposits cause about 1/5th as much hydrogen absorption as electrolytic nickel and about 1/10th as much hard chrome. Deposits can be plated with zero or compressive stress. Deposits have inherent lubricity and non-galling characteristics, unlike electrolytic nickel. Deposits have good wetability for oils No power required Anodisation: An oxide film can be grown on certain metals aluminium, niobium, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, zirconium by an electrochemical process called anodizing. Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called "anodizing" because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electrical circuit. Anodizing increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than does bare metal. Anodic films can also be used for a number of cosmetic effects, either with thick porous coatings that can absorb dyes or with thin transparent coatings that add interference effects to reflected light.