[time-nuts] Gold plating on aluminum

Chuck Harris cfharris at erols.com
Wed Oct 21 12:03:45 UTC 2009


Glenn Little WB4UIV wrote:
> To plate gold on copper requires the copper be first nickle plated.
> Then the gold is plated onto the nickle.
> Gold will not directly plate on copper.

Sure it will!  Gold plates onto copper just fine, but you have to be
aware that the gold atoms are so huge that there are gaping spaces
between them that will allow all manner of other atoms to pass through
them and to reach the copper.  The nickel acts as a reasonably inert
barrier between the surface of the gold, and the copper.... think of
it as being like a vapor barrier.

-Chuck Harris (who worked as a gold plater for DEI as a kid)




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