Scientific, Technical, and Special Purpose Gold Plating

Scientific, Technical, and Special Purpose Gold Plating

Is gold plating right for your project?

Contact us to discuss your needs for a Gold Plating Machine For Sale. Our knowledgeable sales team will help you find the best solution.

We frequently receive inquiries regarding the suitability of gold plating for various purposes. Our gold plating services are categorized into three main types, each tailored to the specific needs of our clients. Often, customer requirements involve a combination of these plating types.

If you're uncertain whether gold plating is suitable for your needs, consider the information provided below, detailing the various types of clients we serve and their specific requirements. For further queries about gold plating properties, feel free to email our technical department at info@goldplating.com.

1. Decorative

Many inquiries we receive are related to decorative gold plating. While other metals can mimic gold's appearance, they often lack the same corrosion resistance and physical properties. Gold plating is also cost-effective as a decorative finish, especially considering that most of the cost is in surface preparation. For instance, an antique copper bracelet we restored required extensive preparation time, while the value of the gold used was minimal.

Ultimately, this transformed a seemingly worthless piece of jewelry into a valuable heirloom. The cost of decorative gold plating generally ranges from $2.00 to $3.00 per square inch (.25m to .55m thick), excluding any special handling or pretreatment. Factors like quantity, size, and special tooling may also affect the price.

Many people worry about the softness of 24K gold for decorative use. We inform customers about the limitations of all electrodeposited finishes to help them make the best choice. Sometimes, we suggest alternative options when gold plating isn't suitable.

For decorative applications, we recommend cobalt-hardened 24K gold, which is 99.7% pure, highly corrosion-resistant, and three times harder than pure gold used in medical, electronic, and other applications where hardness isn't critical.

2. Corrosion Resistance

Gold plating is often used to provide corrosion resistance to substrates that would otherwise corrode quickly, such as copper. Although gold isn't as conductive as copper or silver, it offers superior corrosion resistance. Therefore, we frequently apply gold plating over copper or silver substrates.

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An example of using gold plating as a corrosion barrier for copper is an RF load coil used in an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). These coils operate in harsh environments with high temperatures and high-frequency electrical currents. After experimenting with various materials, the scientist who developed these coils found that a heavy pure gold electroplate over a copper substrate with a transition element diffusion barrier was the most effective solution.

Even hard gold plating is somewhat porous. When applying gold over substrates like silver or copper alloys, we typically suggest a transition element diffusion barrier like nickel, rhodium, or palladium to protect the substrate. We also provide gold plating services for high-energy research labs that require non-magnetic deposits. Since nickel is often magnetic, we suggest increasing the gold plating thickness or using a platinum group element as a diffusion barrier.

3. Unique Physical Properties

Gold plating is also sought after for its unique properties like reflectivity and conductivity. For instance, a medical laser company required gold plating for excellent reflection across the electromagnetic spectrum. The gold plating provided over 97% reflection, making it the ideal choice for their project. They used 15m of hardened gold on polished Type 316 stainless steel.

Another client needed a component to withstand extreme conditions. After experimenting, our technical team found that a heavy gold deposit over pure nickel and rhodium was the solution, resulting in durable components that performed well under continuous testing.

4. Gold Plating Stainless Steel

We specialize in gold plating stainless steel items for various applications. The question of using a nickel underplate often arises. Our technical advisors recommend using or avoiding a nickel underplate based on the specific requirements of the project.

Given its chemical properties, application versatility, and cost-effectiveness, gold electroplating addresses many engineering and technical challenges.

For more information on a barrel nickel plating machine, feel free to contact us.