Letter 38082

Increasing the density of electroplated diamond on steel  

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I electroplate diamonds to steel with nickel as the plating material. I have heard that an adhesive can be used to fix the crystal on the steel prior to electroplating providing greater density of crystal per square inch. Is this true?

C. W. Tunt
Plating Manager - Oswego, IL, USA

I have seen this done, using a tiny bit of adhesive (epoxy?) to secure the individual diamonds in the desired pattern before nickel plating to lock them into place. I believe it is done with only large diamonds (> 0.1 carat?).

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF - Spartanburg, SC, USA

Surely a better way is to use the correct surfactant that will allow the diamond surface to become receptive to aqueous nickel, thereby forming a better bond between the diamond surface and the nickel? The "art" in creating composites is to have good surface interactions between the electrodepositing metal and the material being entrapped. Glue will not offer this as well as direct entrappment.

Trevor Crichton R&D practical scientist - UK

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