(Cycles thru suppliers)
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Letter 934 Coatings for metallizing non conductors.17 APR 97 I am looking for a Electrically Conductive coating (with copper, not silver, too$$$) to put onto a nonmetallic surface. I then want to plate copper onto the item, then nickel, then gold. I am experienced in plating, but I have never looked into plating nonconductive items until now. I refuse to believe I cannot find a more affordable coating or create my own blend for a much lower cost. I am looking for a very thin paint (to keep detail of piece after coated). I say paint because I know of little else that would adhere to an organic surface. The coating also has to not react with a cyanide copper bath. I am open to all suggestions DAVID ALLEN
--- People have developed some new systems for metallizing printed circuit boards which use carbon (or graphite?). I don't believe that the price of the technology has much to do with the cost of the conductor. Its like the cost of developing a new drug; the research is what takes most of the money. Tom Pullizzi
--- David, We have tried a number of different conductive paints and have mainly used Electrodag from Acheson Colloids in Port Huron Michigan. I believe they have a nickel based paint which would be cheaper than the usual silver base. Your problem will be in using cyanide copper as the alkaline cyanide solution is a good paint stripper. We have always used acid copper or silver over these products. Regards
--- some 15 years ago we did plating over items like flower buds , insects, and leaves. We made the surfaces conductive by "painting" on a carbon colloidal suspension which was marketed under the name of "Aquadag" I believe the supplier , whose name I cannot recall is now defunct. It was necessary to plate an undercoat of copper, and only acid copper was suitable. We intended to try a sulphamate bath as alternative, but the customer passed away before we could. (He was a retired professor of botany) Maybe you could source an equivalent to Aquadag. It worked really well. Raymond sebba
The name 'Aquadag' is not defunct. Acheson Colloids offers the Electrodag series, and claims ownership of the names Electrodag, Aquadag, and the rest of the dags. As Bob Lynch says, they are indeed in Port Huron, MI. As for sourcing an equivalent, a good bet is Jema-American [Dunnellen, NJ] or Agate Lacquer [Long Island City, NY].
This type of coating is widely used to "bronze" baby shoes by coating with a conductive paint such as Aquadag then electroplating. Indium - tin- oxide (ITO) (mixture of In2O3 and SnO2) is a transparent (colorless) conductive oxide. It is deposited on surfaces by PVD techniques but would also be useful as a conductive powder.
If you're attempting Cu - Ni - Au for thin film processes, then PVD (sputtering), vacuum evap., or a combination of either w/ Au up-plate is the only way to go for adhesion under high temperature. If you're attempting this coating on an organic such as a plastic, you may want to look into what the PCB industry uses for plated thru holes. Specifically, palladium catalyst activation processes with following plate-up. For this latter technology, contact your plating chemical supplier (I use Technic for their good customer support and competitive prices). Good luck Jeff A. Ed. note: Thanks, Jeff! Full name next time please
-- does anyone know where I can find information on the exact ins and out of gold plating organic materials? I already do gold plating on chrome objects, is the process similar or do you need copper baths or nickel baths? Wayne haraga Ed. note: For a start, try our FAQs on the subject.
Like many of the letters you have already received , when plating non - metallics I have found that you must use an Acid Copper system . The Copper paint can be made by using a nitro cellulose based lacquer and filling it with very fine copper powder which you can buy from a Lab supplier ( for small quantities at exorbitant prices ) or in larger quantities from any reasonable Metal supplier . One of the secrets that has not been mentioned is that once the non - metallic surface has been coated with the "conductive paint" it must be left to "cure" and the "Cure" time depends on how thick the "conductive paint" is . My experience is minimum cure time is 24 hours but the longer the better ( up to 7 days is sometimes needed)
June 2-- Dave, As Don mentioned earlier, this process is used in the bronzing of "baby shoes." However, the applications are limitless. Todd Miller
Anybody who wants to electroplate nonmetallics should find a copy of "How to electroplate for fun & profit" by Warner Electric Co. 1950. It describes the following process.
Donald Warner
in my attempts to electroplate nonconductive materials i have tried to make nitrocellulose lacquers conductive by adding carbon black. Contacts in the conductive polymer industry have provided me with samples of highly conductive carbon structures in powder form, but my recipes have not yet yielded usable results. this method of creating surface conductivity would be extremely economical. any advice is welcome. rob anzellotti
Jul - I'm very interested to learn about gold and silver plating organic materiels like leaves, nuts and even so big things like apples and oranges. Can anyone give me a tip of books and a company where I can buy the products to an affordable price and also get information and support? Can I use a cheaper transformer or I have to buy the more expensive ones? Is it difficult and costly to learn? I have worked in silver before, but not too much. Thank you very much. Bo Erlandsson
++++ I am trying to restart an operation I dropped in the 60's. I bought an outfit for plating baby shoes from Warner Electric in the Midwest I think. I believe they are out of business today. I too am looking for supplies similar to those I used from Warner. The item to be plated was dipped in a rather viscous liquid that dried hard and allowed much detail to come though. The metallic coating was a copper dust propelled from an aerosol can had contained a solvent which allowed the particles of copper to embed and attach themselves to the surface of the impregnated item having an copper suspension wire attached for the plating process. The item, after proper coating with the copper dust was hung from a bar which agitated via motor driven cam, in a copper sulfate bath. They sold copper anodes and a complete line of grinding and polishing compounds, also a great degreasing powder. I successfully plated many natural items such as apples, acorns and plastic statuary as well . I lost all records of bath formulae and will try the suggested "root killer" from Loews. If anyone and suggest more on this I'd appreciate it. I still have the power supply which is rated at 6 volts and 10 amps adjustable. Thanks, Frank Galea
April 10, 2007 I am interested in finding out more about electroplating a non-metallic object such as a flower. I was thinking of copper dusting my flower first before electroplating it. I was wondering what methods are there to copper dust my flower. or just any way of making my flower a conductor so that it can be electroplated. Renee Goh
May 1, 2007 It makes little sense to simply ignore the effort involved in the 14 previous submittals on this page, Renee, and just start over as if it were a blank sheet. Please try to express your question in terms of what has already been said on the page so we can keep moving forward. Thanks.
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