Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
  

Copper electroplating onto steel

Q. I want to plate copper on steel. What is the necessary conditions for it. What is the function of Thiourea ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] in copper plating?

Usually available on eBay;

sometimes on
AbeBooks or Amazon

(affil links)
free pdf is currently available from academia.edu

Hi, Zia.

If you just want to deposit some copper as a science project, please see our FAQ, "How Electroplating Works".

Functional copper plating on steel is something else, though, because copper will 'immersion deposit' onto steel with unsatisfactory adhesion for real-world use. The safest, surest, simplest route is probably to do nickel plating on the steel first.

Thiourea is an addition agent used to refine the grain size and stress, but it has no place is school projects due to its toxicity.

We have hundreds of threads about nickel and copper plating here, but it is difficult to learn by bouncing around. It might be better to try to find a copy of the Metal Finishing Guidebook, because books are more organized and appropriate for tutorial learning than web surfing. Good luck.

Regards,