possible to electroplate copper with titanium? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 12:47:38 am
content: Is it possible to put a layer of titanium on copper by electroplating/deposition/forming whatever you want to call it? I find very little about this, only putting titanium on steel. It would need to be a multicoat approach?

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 03:57:19 am
content: Probably. Would imagine they form a good metallurgical bond, give or take intermetallics, which may be a counterindication for high temperature operation.Electroplating has to be done in a molten salt electrolyte, with inert gas cover of course. I'm aware of some valve metals being smelted this way, but don't know any particulars of process. It might not be a common or economical process.Explosive cladding can be done. I think this is normal for electroplating hardware, racks and busbars and such: the anodic passivation of titanium is required for anodes, while the copper core is required for conductivity.Evaporation or sputtering in vacuum can be done, but it will be quite slow for any useful thickness.Tim

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 03:59:04 am
content: It seems you can put it on steelhttps://www.researchgate.net/post/Titanium_electroplating_methodsSo direct plating on copper in aq solution is not possible?https://www.finishing.com/278/20.shtmlIt says something about hydrogen potential, so it looks like you would need copper + zinc/al/something to titanium to do it

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 08:02:38 am
content: Take your copper article, and nickel plate it, then give that nickel coated part another coat of zinc, so that you have something to plate the titanium onto. Going to have to be a multiple coat process, to get the right conditions for the final plate. If you go direct plating the zinc you probably will end up with copper leaching on the next coating, so need the nickel barrier coat, just like with plating chrome onto anything, where you only plate onto nickel.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 08:54:43 am
content: Titanium does not deposit from aqueous at any pH.Tim

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 01:55:57 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on April 07, 2020, 08:54:43 amis the russian book lying? The research page has references to a 1960's era russian textbook. 2/3 of the recipes are aq. The third uses ethanol (unknown concentration).. none of the ones I listed are molten salt. The third one is alot of work and fairly nastyQuoteOnly the 2nd recipe makes sense for me, because titanium hydroxide is cheap. The metatitanate looks expensive.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 01:57:28 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on April 07, 2020, 08:02:38 amlol, does zinc leach into titanium? Do you think it would be chemically non reactive the coating, for a heater? The idea is to use a DC cartridge heater in a copper rod coated with titanium for a tank heater.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 02:15:20 pm
content: actually, it looks like getting any of these is difficult, and titanium hydroxide is not even defined well

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 02:17:14 pm
content: Yes.Search "titanium pourbaix" and see the potentials for Ti(s). Compare to the same diagram for water, which cuts off around -1.22V (oxygen reduction). Any metal more electronegative than this will only react with water in one direction, regardless of the applied electrode potential.Isolating aluminum, sodium and so on would be a hell of a lot easier if this weren't the case...There are certainly organic solvents which may be useful, for example ethyl carbonate can dissolve lithium chloride and withstand the reduction potential of Li(s). I don't know if titanium salts dissolve to any useful degree in these, or make useful deposits.Tim

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 02:22:45 pm
content: just no, its literary cheaper to buy a tig welder and a kiln and weld a tube and braze in copper (and I bet that won't work either, seems to require GOLD BRAZE)I will just trust the AC heater and be careful, thought it could be easy. I just wanted a DC submersion heater for low voltage, because all the cheap ones are AC. thought it could be made quick and easy, like drilling hole in a rod and putting it in a plating tank . this is nightmare levelor maybe just cut apart the titanium aquarium heaters and glue something into it, if the diameter is right the thermal transfer should be decent, since titanium sucks too. Maybe just stick it in there with good thermal grease (nasty solution though).