Scribd
Upload
72 views

Rhodium Plating: Dr. Ronald J. Morrissey

Rhodium is used for plating jewelry and electronics due to its whiteness, hardness, and resistance to tarnishing and wear. It is electrodeposited from highly acidic solutions containing rhodium sulfate or phosphate. Rhodium plating is an expensive process due to the rising costs of rhodium and environmental regulations around recovering and retaining rhodium from wastewater. Alternatives like palladium and gold are increasingly being used to replace rhodium for decorative and engineering applications.

Uploaded by

امين الدين
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
72 views

Rhodium Plating: Dr. Ronald J. Morrissey

Rhodium is used for plating jewelry and electronics due to its whiteness, hardness, and resistance to tarnishing and wear. It is electrodeposited from highly acidic solutions containing rhodium sulfate or phosphate. Rhodium plating is an expensive process due to the rising costs of rhodium and environmental regulations around recovering and retaining rhodium from wastewater. Alternatives like palladium and gold are increasingly being used to replace rhodium for decorative and engineering applications.

Uploaded by

امين الدين
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Rhodium Plating

Dr. Ronald J. Morrissey

Applications Environmental Impact


Rhodium is one of the whitest of metals, and this, together Wastewater limits for rhodium have not been established.
with its hardness and resistance to wear and tarnishing, have The economic value of rhodium is sufficient to justify great
established it as a premier finish for jewelry and decorative care in effecting recovery and retention. This is ordinarily
work of all types. Its stable contact resistance and high accomplished by direct plateout from dragout rinses, to-
melting point have also made it useful in electrical and gether with ion exchange treatment prior to actual discharge.
electronic applications, notably in reed blades, in which its
resistance to arcing is particularly advantageous. Rhodium Trends
is, however, also the most expensive of the precious metals. The escalating price of rhodium has acted to reduce overall
In recent years, its use has, with few exceptions, been usage in recent years. It is likely that this trend will continue.
restricted to very thin deposits, usually over other white Bright palladium finishes, already virtually indistinguish-
metals such as nickel, silver or, in the case of reed blades, able from rhodium on actual work, will be the major replace-
ruthenium. ment for decorative applications. For engineering applica-
tions, the major replacement to date has been gold, although
Processes for high-temperature applications, there appears to be no
Although rhodium can be evaporated under vacuum, in really suitable substitute. Palladium, particularly with a gold
practice it is almost always electrodeposited. Electroplating overflash, is a suitable replacement for general electronic
solutions for rhodium are highly acidic, and are usually based applications.
on the sulfate or phosphate. In either case, proprietary con-
centrates of rhodium are ordinarily used. It has been claimed
that deposits from the phosphate system are somewhat whiter,
and mixed phosphate-sulfate systems are sometimes used.
Insoluble hydrous oxides of rhodium can form at quite low
pH values. In order to avoid this, it is important to maintain
the acidity of rhodium plating solution. All other things being
equal, this is more easily accomplished in the sulfate than in
the phosphate system.
For decorative applications, rhodium plating solutions
rarely contain more than about 2 g/L rhodium, together with
about 20 mL/L of concentrated sulfuric acid. For heavier
deposits, the rhodium content is increased to about 4-10 g/L,
together with about 20-50 mL/L sulfuric acid. In either case,
plating is carried out at about 1-5 A/dm2 at 40-45 °C.
Proprietary stress-relieving agents are available, but in any
event, it is difficult to plate rhodium in a crack-free condition
from aqueous solution at thicknesses much above 2 to 2.5
µm. Rhodium can be plated from molten cyanide systems to
thicknesses in excess of 100 µm, but in actual practice this is
almost never done.

Post-plating
Rhodium itself does not ordinarily require any type of post-
plating treatment. It should be remembered, however, that
the current efficiency of aqueous rhodium plating solutions
is low. When rhodium is applied to materials in which
hydrogen embrittlement is a problem, a post-bake at 200-
250 °C for hydrogen relief is recommended.

Health Impact
Rhodium deposits are nontoxic and hypoallergenic. How-
ever, since rhodium deposits as ordinarily applied are quite
thin and likely to be discontinuous, it is preferable to use gold
or silver, rather than nickel, as an underplate for rhodium in
applications requiring prolonged contact with the human
body.
Free Details: Circle 138 on reader service card.
November 1998 63

You might also like