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Niobium plating

I am interested in producing decorative curios using a non-metallic base and electroforming a metallic surface on it via conductive paint. I'm intrigued in the effects of an iridescent niobium or titanium finish but am not finding much info on plating or electroforming the reative metals mentioned. Can anyone help? Can it even be done?

daniel boring
dabor enterprises - amity, arkansas, u.s.a
2003

In general, no it can't be done.

A quick tangent: as many people know, aluminum was once considered a precious metal although it is one of the principal constituents of the earth's crust. It was precious because we could not easily plate it out of a soluble salt ; instead, any electricity imposed upon it would simply cause the water in the solution to separate into hydrogen and oxygen instead of causing the aluminum to plate out.

I promised the tangent would be quick, so I won't continue talking about aluminum--but magnesium, titanium, niobium, tantalum and some other refractory metals cannot be electroplated out of aqueous solutions for the same reason.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003

Ted: I was interested in methods for plating niobium (on steel, etc), and realize that aqueous solutions are not the way to go. Since you mentioned the term "in general...", are there any exceptions? I know that using molten salts (at ~700C) is one way.

Guha Venkataraman
- Burlington, Massachusetts
2003

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I have not done a literature search on niobium plating, but there may be some organic solvent which it can be plated out of. Sorry, I don't know.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003