Letter 13035

What's the history of industrial electroplating 

I am writing a paper for a graduate school class describing an electroplating system, and the interfaces within this system. Is there a reference source available that could discuss when electroplating got started? (I already have background material on Volta, Galvani and Faraday in relationship to electrochemistry/electrodeposition -- just need history on the practical applications).

Thanks in advance!

Linda Thomas
- Newcastle, Washington

The closest thing I can think of to one-stop shopping for you is a VHS video called "History of Electroplating with Al Weisberg" available from www.nasf.org.

But there are dozens of journal articles from numerous countries and in several different languages including "History of Electroplating & Electroforming in Russia", "Nickel Plating - Brief History", "Early History of Gold Electroplating", "The Origins & History of Gold Plating", "History & Introduction to Brush Plating", "History of Chromium Plating", "A History of Zinc Plating", etc.

You probably need to do a published lit search (not a website search) incorporating the terms 'history' and 'electroplating'.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

For reasons too complex to explain here I can not get to my reference collection. I do remember that in 1984 the AESF ran a history of the association and of plating in their 75th anniversary edition of Plating & Surface Finishing. A student of industry history, if you can locate him, would be Al Weisberg, retired from Technic, Inc. but probably still reachable through them. He set up a little museum of plating history, collects antique plating photos and apparatus and has, in the past made presentations to groups regarding the history of plating.

The web address for AESF (American Electroplaters and Surface Finishers Society) is nasf.org

Hope this helps.

Gene Packman
process supplier - Great Neck, New York

In the name of god I'm a student of chemistry. I didn't study about history of electroplating, but last year I read a Persian magazine that wrote that Persian in about 2000 years ago done electroplating on some coins. I am sorry that I forget magazine's name.

S.Ali Ojaghi
Isfahan University of Technology - Iran

Thank you, Mr. Ojaghi. I think that is very possibly true, but I haven't myself seen reason to believe that it is definitely true.

Ted Mooney finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

I think it's certainly possible that the early Chinese did some electroplating, John. But things as simple as the wheel, domestication of farm animals, and phonetic writing didn't exist in the Americas until the Europeans arrived, despite tens of thousands of years of civilization -- so I don't see any reason at all to say that the Chinese "must have known about electroplating"

Just because something is shiny doesn't mean it's actually chromium plated--maybe they are silver, nickel, or zinc? There is another technology not involving electricity that was used in early cultures, i.e., surface enrichment with acids. There, a typical gold and copper alloy was cast, then acid was used to dissolve the copper and thereby gold-enrich the surface. I heard that the Aztecs did that.

Ted Mooney finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

I would like to hear from anyone who knows whether the chromium plating of metallic objects was performed prior to the American / German introduction of the techniques during the 20th century.

I visited the famous 'Terracotta Warriors' museum near Xi'an in China at the end of 2004.
There is a display of weaponry in the Museum from about 2200 years ago
Amazingly, it is Chrome-Plated! I am currently trying to find out how they managed this feat!

I heard of The Baghdad Battery circa 250 BC
On the website: http://www.mpoweruk.com/history.htm#250bc there is an explanation.
There is also a disclaimer suggesting that this artifact was in fact a scroll-case and as the objects were plundered after the gulf war, we may never be able to find out just what they were or were used for!

It is my thought that the Chinese may have known something about electroplating?
There are some 1/2-size, gold-plated, bronze horses and carriages there.
Perhaps these were also electroplated?
The Chinese also invented the magnetic compass at about this time.

John Moss
Kingdom Sounds - Coventry, West Midlands, UK

I caught the History Channel show about the Baghdad Battery, and here's the thing: it's flight-of-fancy speculation, not fact. While we have no good reason to dismiss the possibility that the Persians could have invented a battery; all we really have are a couple of pottery shards, and a piece of iron and a piece of copper discovered in the same general area.

Some archeologists advanced a theory that the iron and copper could have been put into a pottery jar, and this filled with vinegar to make a battery. They developed artist's conceptions based on those shards, but we must not be fooled into thinking that the artist's conceptions are what was actually found. Other archeologists feel it was just a few ritual items and that there is no evidence whatsoever of the use of batteries, and note that a pottery shard is hardly an astounding thing to find in a dig.

Anything is possible, John, but just repeating assertions doesn't make them more true. You said the first time that they were chrome plated, and I replied that everything that is shiny isn't chrome plated. Is there any metallurgical analysis or metallography demonstrating that they contain chromium or that they are electroplated?

Ted Mooney finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

I heard about the Baghdad Battery and how it was used to electroplate coins. How would I a 12th grade student do that?

Rick S
student - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Baghdad Battery is speculation, Rick. Nor have any electroplated coins been found from that era; they are speculation as well. As a real research project, you might go to a large library and investigate everything you can about this and write a paper on whether you think it was real or just an unfounded guess. But please see our FAQ, "Electroplating: How it Works", for instruction on electroplating of coins for a school science project. Good luck!

Ted Mooney finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

June 19, 2009 I'm in 11th grade.We are trying to figure out what would be the most likely acid used in the very first battery. We know that ancient Mesopotamians had vinegar and lemon juice. We want to test lemon juice and vinegar with the two metal electrodes found in the ancient clay batteries. Do you think we should use dilutions on the two acids to see if it will improve the voltage output?? or should we just repeat the test 3X's with each acid and H2O,as a control and use the averages?? Our goal would be to see which acid was the one most likely used in the ancient battery by seeing which one works better. Harold F student - Port St Lucie, Florida June 19, 2009 Hi, Harold. As previously noted repeatedly, the "Baghdad Battery" is not an actual device it is only a theory based on archeologists having found a chunk of copper and a chunk of iron somewhere near some pottery shards (I doubt that there is anything more common in archeology than pottery shards). I would like to believe it existed, and I have no reason to say it didn't or couldn't have existed, but the evidence so far is sketchier than sketchy. So don't weaken your science project by claiming it existed -- use your results as evidence that it could have. Don't dilute the juice or vinegar because they are already weak acids. You can consult the galvanic series to determine the maximum theoretical voltage that the combination of iron and copper will generate, and see how close you can come. Good luck! Regards, Ted Mooney finishing.com Brick, New Jersey