Niobium Electroplating Conditions 1

[eng3000]

I'm researching the electroplating of Niobium on top of an initial electroplated finish (on a non-conductive base).

As a method, I expect to use a molten alkali metal chloride solution. I can find some indicators of required temperature, but so far none on the 'electro' setup, i.e. potential, current density etc. Also, it's unclear what other reactions occur (e.g. is significant chlorine evolved, if so, should I use a closed recombinant or vented cell etc.).

The setup would be very small (mostly for jewellery,) and at this stage I am just trying to determine the feasibility of proceeding to a development stage, though most of the required equipment is at hand.

Any contributory information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[unclesyd]

The only plating parameters I've seen for plating Niobium were in a Jewelry magazine and a Russian paper. of these articles were plating from Fluoride bath.

Here are two sources that might lead to some of the parameters you need. The first is a reference to a paper from the Electrochemical Journal and the second is book on electroplating of various metals.

http://www.electrochem.org/dl/interface/spr/spr01/IF3-01-Page18.pdf

Title: Professional Manual of Electroplating

http://www.universitypublishinghouse.net/professional manual of electroplating.html

 

[unclesyd]

Forgot to add that you should be able to get the Electrochemical article from the following for a small fee.

http://www.lindahall.org/

 

[eng3000]

Thanks, it looks like this article would be a good place for further info.