Letter 32068

Can stainless steel be plated onto gold [Singapore] 

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I would like to know that how is stainless steel plating all about? And I would also like to know that whether is it possible that I would be able to plating stainless steel on gold?

Calvin Poon
Unigold Internation - Singapore

Sorry, Calvin, but stainless steel is not a plateable alloy.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

As Ted says, stainless steel is not a plateable alloy. This is because it contains a lot of complex structures such as intermetallics, carbides, phosphides etc. It is, however, possible to electrodeposit a mixture of iron nickel and chromium that will have the same nominal composition as (say) 18/8 stainless. It must be emphasised however that it will NOT have the same properties as 18/8. There was a modest degree of excitement about this technology during the 1980's when a commercial solution was released, but I do not remember which supply house released it!

Trevor Crichton R&D practical scientist - UK

Dr. David Lashmore, then with the National Bureau of Standards, simulated a stainless steel plating via hundreds of alternating layers of nickel plating and chrome plating applied by means of complex control of pulse plating rectifiers. It had some of the properties of stainless steel but was only a laboratory curiousity for further investigation. It may be possible to get his paper from NIST.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

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