Copper-plating of leaves and bark

A. Hi. I suppose it is possible that for some reason your graphite is not conductive; also I think you want to mix your ink or graphite with Mod Podge so it doesn't just fall right off.

But it not 'spreading' may be understandable and proper. Electricity essentially takes the path of least resistance. If the back is not facing an anode it will plate very little. Further the conductivity of your ink may be insufficient to properly carry current from your copper wire to the other end of the bark. Any reason you can't connect copper wire to both ends of your piece of bark?

Luck & Regards,

A. Forget graphite based paint try fine copper or bronze powder - no need for paint. 19th century electroformers never used graphite based paint, only graphite powder (very messy and dirty job ).There are many download free old electroforming and electrotyping handbooks on web (archive.org website ). Hope it helps and good luck!

http://29aqcgc1xnh17fykn459grmc-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/osg-postprints/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2019/12/osg024-026.pdf ⇩
Very good short and clear article on small size copper electroforming.

A. I applaud your ambition and enthusiasm, Mium :-)

We have an FAQ, "How Electroplating Works", which includes experiments of zinc plating of pennies and copper plating of quarters or keys which they might try first. Although schoolchildren can certainly demonstrate electrochemical principles by doing science projects involving electroplating which render an intriguing color change -- it's not heavy, functional, robust, shiny, attractive plating. Doing difficult to plate objects like leaves and, using a toy electroplating setup to produce jewelry-quality plated leaves, might be a bit unrealistic as their first project. We always suggest trying to plate on easy metal substrates first as a way of learning step by step.

But prove me wrong please! The first step would be to lacquer the leaves to render them waterproof since plating solutions are water-based. You could try several very thin coats of Krylon. Others have used thinned glues like Mod Podge.

Then you need to metallize them with a colloidal copper or silver suspension available from Acheson Colloids or Sierra Silver, and probably Amazon. Copper paint from the hardware store may be good enough though :-)

Electrical wire rather than a plumbing coupling would be a purer source of copper, but whatever. 6 volts is far too much voltage though; 3 volts is way more than enough, and perhaps too much. 1-1/2 volts would probably be better. If you can do it safely, mix the copper sulphate crystals into diluted battery acid [affil links]. I'd try diluting the acid into 5 parts of water, and add enough of the copper sulphate until you have a rich dark blue color.

It's worth a try, I suppose, but if the kids are not yet teenagers, I think they'd probably be satisfied with the plating on coins idea, and would prefer success on a coin project to possible failure on a leaf project if it's too big a leap for a first attempt :-)

Good luck!

Q. How would you dispose of this solution, as it is a bio-toxin? Is placing a piece of 00 steel wool [on eBay or Amazon] into it until the solution is relatively clear, good enough to neutralize the toxic constituents enough to (hopefully not), have someone pour this down the drain?

Or, should it be then allowed to evaporate to dry salts, then taken to an appropriate disposal venue? I'm sure this should be the most important factor to consider when experimenting in the home. I just hope people are not dumping these hobby solutions into the water table.

A. That's a good point to raise, Jeff, and it's been raised here lots of times.

Most of the students doing plating are working with vinegar [in bulk on eBay or Amazon], and the amount of copper dissolved in their dessert dish is about the same as they'd generate in washing a copper-bottom pot. From an actual pollution standpoint it can probably safely be ignored; but school projects should educate kids in doing things right, not in making excuses. Waste treatment should be part of the project, so the steel wool [affil link on Amazon] sounds like the right idea.

In the case at hand, a quarter cup of copper sulphate, we are talking way way more copper than would result from washing a pot or from a vinegar experiment, but less than people routinely pour down the drain as root killer. So I'd say precipitate it on steel wool and then dump it. (N.B. -- again, that's if you are a student; if you are a hobbyist you need to treat your waste as hazardous waste. Remember: "Toxic is a matter of statute, not opinion").

A. Melissa, our FAQs address the issue of electroplating for students, and instruct you to use readily available materials like vinegar.

Plating of a leaf is beyond the abilities of most young students doing a science project, although we've listed some potential instructions and suppliers of the required metallizing solutions just above.

A. Lora, Kim,
Part of the problem I'm having in trying to figure out how to provide you advice is that I have no good frame of reference for what you want. Is there any chance you can provide us with some links or pictures to what you are trying to do?

One more additional note, this may be a patina, please take a look at:
www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/iridescent-patina.htm

A. After taking a look at the pictures it does appear that finish is indeed the product of an oxidation reaction. The previous link I provided to the patina recipe should provide you a similar result.

A. Iridescence on copper metal can be very easily realized using H2S (hydrogen sulfide). You can obtain all the colours of the light spectrum with different times of contact between H2S gas and the copper metal.

A. In answer to the original question, yes you can. Admittedly not as easy as electroplating which involves metal to metal, plating onto leaves, acorns, etc. is called electroforming; with an acorn you can rub over it with a soft graphite pencil then plate in the same way as metal to metal but as leaves are delicate they need to be carefully slow dried then sprayed with colloidal graphite thoroughly before plating. I would advise a lower voltage battery for better results as slower you plate the more likely it is to stay put.

opinion!   I didn't think the first response was very informed or helpful. P.S. I was a chemistry teacher.

Hi Kevin. Thanks for your participation and answer! But we really don't like to post ad hominems like: "I didn't think the first response was very informed or helpful. P.S. I was a chemistry teacher." If you feel that something I said is in error, please be specific; general undercutting usually starts a race to the bottom and should be avoided :-(   P.S. I've been wrong countless times and never mind being told so -- learning should be lifelong! But I've spent a 52-year career in electroplating; designed several hundred plating facilities, taught electroplating around the world for the American Electroplaters Society and the American Society for Metals, written a hundred textbook chapters and journal articles on the subject, and have run the world's most popular electroplating website for 25 years -- so I think characterizing me as 'uninformed' is a bit harsh :-) Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. RET Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey