Electroplating

Invented by : Luigi Gasparo Brugnatelli

Invented in year : 1805

Electroplating is a process that uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal. In simple words, Electroplating is a process in which a surface is covered by a thin layer of another metal. The process used in Electroplating is called Electrodeposition. In the process of  Electroplating, a negative charge is placed on the object that will be coated. The object is then immersed in a salt solution of the metal that will be used to plate the object. The metallic ions of the salt are positively charged and are thus attracted to the negatively charged object. Once they connect, the positively charged ions revert back to their metallic form again and newly electroplated object is ready. Controlling the thickness of the electroplated object is generally achieved by altering the time the object spends in the salt solution. The longer it remains inside the bath, the thicker the electroplated shell becomes.

History of the Invention

Electroplating was invented in 1805 by Italian chemist, Luigi Brugnatelli. Brugnatelli performed electrodeposition of gold using the Voltaic Pile, discovered by his college Allessandro Volta in 1800. Brugnatelli was a friend of Allisandro Volta, who had just discovered the chemical principles that would later lead to the development of "voltaic"electrical batteries. Volta's first practical demonstration of this was called a 'Voltaic Pile'. As a result, Brugnatelli's early work using voltaic electricity enabled him to experiment with various metallic plating solutions. By 1805, he had refined his process enough to plate a fine layer of gold over large silver metals. Luigi Brugnatelli's work was however rejected by the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, which caused Brugnatelli to suppress any further publication of his work. However, Luigi Brugnatelli did write about Electroplating in the Belgian Journal of Physics and Chemistry, "I have lately gilt in a complete manner two large silver medals, by bringing them into communication by means of a steel wire, with a negative pole of a voltaic pile, and keeping them one after the other immersed in ammoniuret of gold newly made and well saturated".

Development in the Invention of Electroplating

Forty years later, John Wright of Birmingham, England discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for gold and silver Electroplating. According to the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, "It was a Birmingham doctor, John Wright, who first showed that items could be electroplated by immersing them in a tank of silver held in solution, through which an electric current was passed."

Others inventors were also carrying on similar work. Several patents for Electroplating processes were issued in 1840. However, cousins Henry and George Richard Elkington patented the Electroplating process first. It should be noted that the Elkington's bought the patent rights to John Wright's process. The Elkington's held a monopoly on Electroplating for many years due to their patent for an inexpensive method of Electroplating.

In 1857, the next new wonder in economical jewellery arrived called Electroplating - when the process was first applied to costume jewellery. The period from 1870 to 1940 was a quiet period for Electroplating. The late 1940's witnessed the rediscovery of heavy gold plating for electronic components. By the mid-1950's, the utilization of new and safer plating baths based on acid formulas, began to displace some of the traditional cyanide based formulas in large scale commercial use

Role of Electroplating in the Development of Human Life

• Electroplating became increasingly utilized for specific manufacturing and engineering applications.

• As the industrial age and financial capital expanded form Great Britain to the rest of the world, Electroplating processes found more usages in the manufacturing of goods and services.