Plating on Hafnium Substrates

Question:

We have to plate platinum and silver on some parts that are made of hafnium. Do you have any suggestions on how to do this? I.R.

Answer:

I was not able to find any published papers or procedures covering the plating on a hafnium substrate. Since hafnium is the same elemental group as zirconium, you might try using some of the procedures that have been used with some success for plating of zirconium substrates. For example, the Electroplating Engineering Handbook, 4th ed., edited by Lawrence Durney (available from Elsevier Science) gives a couple of procedures for plating on zirconium.

Featured Content

Fixing Corrosion Between Anodized Aluminum and Steel

Polishing vs. Buffing: What's the Difference?

TTX Environmental Solves Customer Issue with Electro-Ceramic Desalination Wastewater Processing

Perhaps one of our readers has had experience with this material and can help solve this problem.

(Editor's note: There are patented processes for this type of plating. One reference is Modern Electroplating by Frederick Lowenheim. It is available from The Electrochemical Society at 609-737-1902; ecs@electrochem.org).