Investigating the Au-Cu thick layers electrodeposition rate with pulsed current by optimization of the operation condition

Abstract

The impact of effective parameters on the electrodeposition rate optimization of Au-Cu alloy at high thicknesses on the silver substrate was investigated in the present study. After ensuring the formation of gold alloy deposits with the desired and standard percentage of gold with the cartage of 18K and other standard karats that should be observed in the manufacturing of the gold and jewelry artifacts, comparing the rate of gold-copper deposition by direct and pulsed current was done. The rate of deposition with pulse current was significantly higher than direct current. In this process, the duty cycle parameter was effectively optimized by the”one factor at a time” method to achieve maximum deposition rate. Particular parameters in this work were direct and pulse current densities, bath temperature, concentration of gold and cyanide ions in electrolyte, pH, agitation and wetting agent additive. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and surface chemical analysis system (EDS) were used to study the effect of deposition on the cross-sections of the formed layers. The results revealed that the Au-Cu alloy layer formed with concentrations of 6gr·L-1 Au, 55gr·L-1 Cu, 24 gr·L-1 KCN and 1 ml·L-1 Lauryl dimethyl amine oxide (LDAO) in the 0.6 mA·cm-2 average current density and 30% duty cycle, had 0.841 μm·min-1 Which was the highest deposition rate. The use of electrodeposition of pure and alloy gold thick layers as a production method can reduce the use of gold metal in the production of hallow gold artifacts, create sophisticated and unique models, and diversify production by maintaining standard karats, hardness, thickness and mechanical strength. This will not only make the process economical, it will also provide significant added value to the gold artifacts. By pulsating of currents and increasing the duty cycle means reducing the pulse off-time, and if the pulse off-time becomes too short, the electric double layer would not have sufficient growth time, and its thickness decreases. These results show the effect of pulsed current on increasing the electrodeposition rate of Au-Cu alloy confirming the previous studies on the effect of pulsed current on increasing the deposition rate of Au-Cu alloy.