Electroless Deposition on Three Substrates: Brass Washers, Cicada Exoskeletons, and Beetles

Autor/inn/en	Donahue, Craig J.; Marini, Amina; Savu, Codruta; Yehya, Hanan
Titel	Electroless Deposition on Three Substrates: Brass Washers, Cicada Exoskeletons, and Beetles
Quelle	In: Journal of Chemical Education, 96 (2019) 10, S.2279-2285 (7 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Donahue, Craig J.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0021-9584
Schlagwörter	Science Instruction; Science Laboratories; Laboratory Experiments; College Science; Undergraduate Study; Chemistry; Metallurgy; Scientific Concepts; Concept Formation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Laboratory work; Laborarbeit; Grundstudium; Chemie; Hüttenwesen; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung
Abstract	This laboratory experiment showcases electroless deposition, an autocatalytic reduction process performed in aqueous solution containing a metal ion in the presence of a reducing agent yielding a coherent metal film. One set of experiments has been performed by second-semester general chemistry students in a 3 h lab session. After preparing an electroless nickel plating bath, they first plate a brass washer with nickel for 10 min at 85°C. Using weight gain data for their brass washer along with its surface area, the thickness of the nickel coating is determined. The same electroless nickel plating bath is then used to plate a pretreated cicada exoskeleton with nickel. The three-step pretreatment procedure deposits Pd(s) nanoparticles on a nonconducting exoskeleton made of chitin, transforming it into a conducting substrate. A second set of experiments has been performed by upper-class chemistry majors. They (1) explore the reproducibility in weight gain when plating brass washers with nickel for 10, 20, 30, and 40 min time intervals, (2) plate beetles with nickel, and (3) plate cicada exoskeletons with copper using an electroless copper plating bath recipe they find in the literature. Weight gain data and photos of the plated cicada exoskeletons and beetles accompany this article. The nickel-plated brass washers and cicada exoskeletons were examined with XRF spectrometry. This analysis demonstrates that the nickel coating is not pure nickel but rather an alloy containing phosphorus. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01