Thermoelectric cooling

Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect to

create a heat flux between the junction of two different
types of materials. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric Thermoelectric effect
heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers
heat from one side of the device to the other side against
the temperature gradient (from cold to hot), with
consumption of electrical energy. Such an instrument is also
called a Peltier device, Peltier heat pump, solid state
refrigerator, or thermoelectric cooler (TEC). The Peltier
device is a heat pump: When DC current runs through it,
heat is moved from one side to the other. Therefore it can
be used either for heating or for cooling (refrigeration),
Principles
although in practice the main application is cooling. It can
also be used as a temperature controller that either heats or Applications
cools. Thermoelectric materials ·
As a refrigeration technology, it is far less common than Thermocouple · Thermopile ·
vapor-compression refrigeration. The main advantages of a Thermoelectric cooling ·
Peltier cooler (compared to a vapor-compression Thermoelectric generator ·
refrigerator) are its lack of moving parts or circulating liquid, Radioisotope thermoelectric generator 

and its small size and flexible shape (form factor). Its main
disadvantage is that it cannot simultaneously have low cost and high power efficiency. Many
researchers and companies are trying to develop Peltier coolers that are both cheap and efficient.
(See Thermoelectric materials.)
A Peltier cooler is the opposite of a thermoelectric generator. In a Peltier cooler, electric power is
used to generate a temperature difference between the two sides of the device; while in a
thermoelectric generator, a temperature difference between the two sides is used to generate electric
power. The operation of both is closely related (both are manifestations of the thermoelectric effect),
and therefore the devices are generally constructed from similar materials using similar designs.

Performance

Peltier element (16x16 mm)

Peltier element schematic. Thermoelectric legs are

thermally in parallel and electrically in series.
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FRPSDUHGZLWK40–60% achieved by conventional compression cycle systems (reverse Rankine systems using
compression/expansion). Due to the relatively low efficiency, thermoelectric cooling is generally onlyused in
environments where the solid state nature (no moving parts, maintenance-free) outweighspure efficiency.
Peltier (thermoelectric) cooler performance is a function of ambient temperature, hot and cold sideheat
exchanger (heat sink) performance, thermal load, Peltier module (thermopile) geometry, and
Peltier electrical parameters.


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Peltier devices are commonly used in camping and portable coolers and for cooling electronic
components and small instruments. Some electronic equipment intended for military use in the field is
thermoelectrically cooled. The cooling effect of Peltier heat pumps can also be used to extract water
from the air in dehumidifiers.
Peltier elements are a common component in thermal cyclers, used for the synthesis of DNA by
polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a common molecular biological technique which requires the rapid
heating and cooling of the reaction mixture for denaturation, primer annealing and enzymatic
synthesis cycles.
The effect is used in satellites and spacecraft to counter the effect of direct sunlight on one side of a
craft by dissipating the heat over the cold shaded side, whereupon the heat is dissipated by thermal
radiation into space.
Photon detectors such as CCDs in astronomical telescopes or very high-end digital cameras are
often cooled down with Peltier elements. This reduces dark counts due to thermal noise. A dark
count occurs when a pixel generates an electron because of a thermal fluctuation rather than
because it has received a photon. On digital photos taken at low light these occur as speckles (or
"pixel noise").
Thermoelectric coolers can be used to cool computer components to keep temperatures within design
limits without the noise of a fan, or to maintain stable functioning when overclocking. In fiber optic
applications, where the wavelength of a laser or a component is highly dependent on temperature,
Peltier coolers are used along with a thermistor in a feedback loop to maintain a constant
temperature and thereby stabilize the wavelength of the device. A Peltier cooler with a heat sink or
waterblock can cool a chip to well below ambient temperature.

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keep drinks chilled, some can even keep drinks warm.
Theavailable power from a USB socket is very limited by
design , a maximum of 500 mA at 5 VDC (Although high-
power ports providing 1 amp or more do exist, ports
providing more than 500mA fall out of the standard for
USB and thus can be considered proprietary connections),
so USB TEC devices are considered quite limited. A USB powered beverage cooler

Main article: Thermoelectric effect

Thermoelectric coolers rely on the thermoelectric effect. When a current is run through an
appropriately-configured thermoelectric device, heat is transported from one side of the device to the
other.
See also
Bismuth telluride, an efficient thermoelectric material
Freezer
H 2 Ceramic cooling - a hybrid combination of thermoelectric and liquid cooling
Heat transfer
Joule's law
Pyroelectric effect - the creation of an electric field in a crystal after uniform heating
Thermionic emission
Thermoelectrics
Thermoelectricity
Thermopower
Thermotunnel cooling
Thermoacoustics - competitor technology to thermoelectric cooling
 Search

Thermoelectric effect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Peltier effect)

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style,

cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing
it.  (September 2010)

This page is about the thermoelectric effect as a physical phenomenon. For applications of the
thermoelectric effect, see thermoelectric materials, thermoelectric generator, and thermoelectric
cooling.
The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion
Thermoelectric effect
of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice
versa. A thermoelectric device creates a voltage when
there is a different temperature on each side.
Conversely when a voltage is applied to it, it creates a
temperature difference (known as the Peltier effect). At
atomic scale (specifically, charge carriers), an applied
temperature gradient causes charged carriers in the
material, whether they are electrons or electron holes,
to diffuse from the hot side to the cold side, similar to a
classical gas that expands when heated; hence, the Principles [hide]
thermally induced current. Thermoelectric effect (Seebeck effect,
Peltier effect, Thomson effect)  ·
This effect can be used to generate electricity, to
Thermopower (Seebeck coefficient)  ·
measure temperature, to cool objects, or to heat them
Ettingshausen effect · Nernst effect
or cook them. Because the direction of heating and
cooling is determined by the polarity of the applied Applications [show]
voltage, thermoelectric devices make very convenient v· d· e
temperature controllers.
Traditionally, the term thermoelectric effect or thermoelectricity encompasses three separately
identified effects, the Seebeck effect, the Peltier effect, and the Thomson effect. In many
textbooks, thermoelectric effect may also be called the Peltier–Seebeck effect. This separation
derives from the independent discoveries of French physicist Jean Charles Athanase Peltier and
Estonian-German physicist Thomas Johann Seebeck. Joule heating, the heat that is generated
whenever a voltage is applied across a resistive material, is somewhat related, though it is not
generally termed a thermoelectric effect (and it is usually regarded as being a loss mechanism due to
non-ideality in thermoelectric devices). The Peltier–Seebeck and Thomson effects can in principle be
thermodynamically reversible,[1] whereas Joule heating is not.
Seebeck effect [edit]

The Seebeck effect is the conversion of temperature differences directly into electricity.
Seebeck discovered that a compass needle would be deflected when a closed loop was formed of
two metals joined in two places with a temperature difference between the junctions. This is because
the metals respond differently to the temperature difference, which creates a current loop, which
produces a magnetic field. Seebeck, however, at this time did not recognize there was an electric
current involved, so he called the phenomenon the thermomagnetic effect, thinking that the two
metals became magnetically polarized by the temperature gradient. The Danish physicist Hans
Christian Ørsted played a vital role in explaining and conceiving the term "thermoelectricity".
The effect is that a voltage, the thermoelectric EMF, is created in the presence of a temperature
difference between two different metals or semiconductors. This causes a continuous current in the
conductors if they form a complete loop. The voltage created is of the order of several microvolts per
kelvin difference. One such combination, copper-constantan, has a Seebeck coefficient of 41
microvolts per kelvin at room temperature.
In the circuit:

(which can be in several different configurations and be governed by the same equations), the
voltage developed can be derived from:
SA and SB are the Seebeck coefficients (also called thermoelectric power or thermopower) of the
metals A and B as a function of temperature, and T1 and T2 are the temperatures of the two
junctions. The Seebeck coefficients are non-linear as a function of temperature, and depend on the
conductors' absolute temperature, material, and molecular structure. If the Seebeck coefficients are
effectively constant for the measured temperature range, the above formula can be approximated as:

The Seebeck effect is commonly used in a device called a thermocouple (because it is made from a
coupling or junction of materials, usually metals) to measure a temperature difference directly or to
measure an absolute temperature by setting one end to a known temperature. A metal of unknown
composition can be classified by its thermoelectric effect if a metallic probe of known composition,
kept at a constant temperature, is held in contact with it. Industrial quality control instruments use this
Seebeck effect to identify metal alloys. This is known as thermoelectric alloy sorting.
Several thermocouples connected in series are called a thermopile, which is sometimes constructed
in order to increase the output voltage since the voltage induced over each individual couple is small.
This is also the principle at work behind thermoelectric generators (such as radioisotope
thermoelectric generators or RTGs) which are used for creating power from heat differentials.
The Seebeck effect is due to two effects: charge carrier diffusion and phonon drag (described below).

Thermopower [edit]

The thermopower, thermoelectric power, or Seebeck coefficient of a material measures the

magnitude of an induced thermoelectric voltage in response to a temperature difference across that
material. The thermopower has units of (V/K), though in practice it is more common to use microvolts
per kelvin. Values in the hundreds of μV/K, negative or positive, are typical of good thermoelectric
materials. The term thermopower is a misnomer since it measures the voltage or electric field
induced in response to a temperature difference, not the electric power. An applied temperature
difference causes charged carriers in the material, whether they are electrons or holes, to diffuse
from the hot side to the cold side, similar to a classical gas that expands when heated. Mobile
charged carriers migrating to the cold side leave behind their oppositely charged and immobile nuclei
at the hot side thus giving rise to a thermoelectric voltage (thermoelectric refers to the fact that the
voltage is created by a temperature difference). Since a separation of charges also creates an
electric potential, the buildup of charged carriers onto the cold side eventually ceases at some
maximum value since there exists an equal amount of charged carriers drifting back to the hot side
as a result of the electric field at equilibrium. Only an increase in the temperature difference can
resume a buildup of more charge carriers on the cold side and thus lead to an increase in the
thermoelectric voltage. Incidentally the thermopower also measures the entropy per charge carrier in
the material. To be more specific, the partial molar electronic entropy is said to equal the absolute
thermoelectric power multiplied by the negative of Faraday's constant.[2]
The thermopower of a material, represented by S (or sometimes by α), depends on the material's
temperature and crystal structure. Typically metals have small thermopowers because most have
half-filled bands. Electrons (negative charges) and holes (positive charges) both contribute to the
induced thermoelectric voltage thus canceling each other's contribution to that voltage and making it
small. In contrast, semiconductors can be doped with excess electrons or holes, and thus can have
large positive or negative values of the thermopower depending on the charge of the excess carriers.
The sign of the thermopower can determine which charged carriers dominate the electric transport in
both metals and semiconductors.
If the temperature difference ΔT between the two ends of a material is small, then the thermopower
of a material is defined (approximately) [3] as:

and a thermoelectric voltage ΔV is seen at the terminals.

This can also be written in relation to the electric field E and the temperature gradient , by the
approximate [3] equation:

In practice one rarely measures the absolute thermopower of the material of interest. This is because
electrodes attached to a voltmeter must be placed onto the material in order to measure the
thermoelectric voltage. The temperature gradient then also typically induces a thermoelectric voltage
across one leg of the measurement electrodes. Therefore the measured thermopower includes a
contribution from the thermopower of the material of interest and the material of the measurement
electrodes.
The measured thermopower is then a contribution from both and can be written as:

Superconductors have zero thermopower since the charged carriers produce no entropy. This allows
a direct measurement of the absolute thermopower of the material of interest, since it is the
thermopower of the entire thermocouple as well. In addition, a measurement of the Thomson

coefficient, μ , of a material can also yield the thermopower through the relation:

The thermopower is an important material parameter that determines the efficiency of a

thermoelectric material. A larger induced thermoelectric voltage for a given temperature gradient will
lead to a larger efficiency. Ideally one would want very large thermopower values since only a small
amount of heat is then necessary to create a large voltage. This voltage can then be used to provide
power.

Charge-carrier diffusion [edit]

Charge carriers in the materials (electrons in metals, electrons and holes in semiconductors, ions in
ionic conductors) will diffuse when one end of a conductor is at a different temperature to the other.
Hot carriers diffuse from the hot end to the cold end, since there is a lower density of hot carriers at
the cold end of the conductor. Cold carriers diffuse from the cold end to the hot end for the same
reason.
If the conductor were left to reach thermodynamic equilibrium, this process would result in heat being
distributed evenly throughout the conductor (see heat transfer). The movement of heat (in the form of
hot charge carriers) from one end to the other is called a heat current. As charge carriers are moving,
it is also an electric current.
In a system where both ends are kept at a constant temperature difference (a constant heat current
from one end to the other), there is a constant diffusion of carriers. If the rate of diffusion of hot and
cold carriers in opposite directions were equal, there would be no net change in charge. However,
the diffusing charges are scattered by impurities, imperfections, and lattice vibrations (phonons). If the
scattering is energy dependent, the hot and cold carriers will diffuse at different rates. This creates a
higher density of carriers at one end of the material, and the distance between the positive and
negative charges produces a potential difference; an electrostatic voltage.
This electric field, however, opposes the uneven scattering of carriers, and an equilibrium is reached
where the net number of carriers diffusing in one direction is canceled by the net number of carriers
moving in the opposite direction from the electrostatic field. This means the thermopower of a
material depends greatly on impurities, imperfections, and structural changes (which often vary
themselves with temperature and electric field), and the thermopower of a material is a collection of
many different effects.
Early thermocouples were metallic, but many more recently developed thermoelectric devices are
made from alternating p-type and n-type semiconductor elements connected by metallic interconnects
as pictured in the figures below. Semiconductor junctions are especially common in power generation
devices, while metallic junctions are more common in temperature measurement. Charge flows
through the n-type element, crosses a metallic interconnect, and passes into the p-type element. If a
power source is provided, the thermoelectric device may act as a cooler, as in the figure to the left
below. This is the Peltier effect, described below. Electrons in the n-type element will move opposite
the direction of current and holes in the p-type element will move in the direction of current, both
removing heat from one side of the device. If a heat source is provided, the thermoelectric device
may function as a power generator, as in the figure to the right below. The heat source will drive
electrons in the n-type element toward the cooler region, thus creating a current through the circuit.
Holes in the p-type element will then flow in the direction of the current. The current can then be
used to power a load, thus converting the thermal energy into electrical energy.

Phonon drag [edit]

Main article: Phonon drag

Phonons are not always in local thermal equilibrium; they move against the thermal gradient. They
lose momentum by interacting with electrons (or other carriers) and imperfections in the crystal. If the
phonon-electron interaction is predominant, the phonons will tend to push the electrons to one end of
the material, losing momentum in the process. This contributes to the already present thermoelectric
field. This contribution is most important in the temperature region where phonon-electron scattering
is predominant. This happens for

where θ D is the Debye temperature. At lower temperatures there are fewer phonons available for
drag, and at higher temperatures they tend to lose momentum in phonon-phonon scattering instead
of phonon-electron scattering.
Thermoelectric effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This region of the thermopower-versus-temperature function is highly variable under a magnetic field.

Peltier effect [edit]

The Peltier (pronounced /ˈpɛltjeɪ/) effect bears the name of Jean-Charles Peltier, a French
physicist who in 1834 discovered the calorific effect of an electric current at the junction of two
different metals. When a current is made to flow through the circuit, heat is evolved at the upper
junction (at T2 ), and absorbed at the lower junction (at T1 ). The Peltier heat absorbed by the lower
junction per unit time, is equal to

where π is the Peltier coefficient Π AB of the entire thermocouple, and Π A and Π B are the
coefficients of each material. p-type silicon typically has a positive Peltier coefficient (though not
above ~550 K), and n-type silicon is typically negative.
The Peltier coefficients represent how much heat current is carried per unit charge through a given
material. Since charge current must be continuous across a junction, the associated heat flow will
develop a discontinuity if Π A and Π B are different. This causes a non-zero divergence at the junction
and so heat must accumulate or deplete there, depending on the sign of the current. Another way to
understand how this effect could cool a junction is to note that when electrons flow from a region of
high density to a region of low density, this "expansion" causes cooling (as with an ideal gas).
The carriers are attempting to return to the electron equilibrium that existed before the current was
applied by absorbing energy at one connector and releasing it at the other. The individual couples
can be connected in series to enhance the effect.
An interesting consequence of this effect is that the direction of heat transfer is controlled by the
polarity of the current; reversing the polarity will change the direction of transfer and thus the sign of
the heat absorbed/evolved.
A Peltier cooler/heater or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which
transfers heat from one side of the device to the other. Peltier cooling is also called thermo-electric
cooling (TEC).

Thomson effect [edit]

The Thomson effect was predicted and subsequently experimentally observed by William
Thomson (Lord Kelvin) in 1851. It describes the heating or cooling of a current-carrying conductor
with a temperature gradient.
Any current-carrying conductor (except for a superconductor), with a temperature difference between
two points, will either absorb or emit heat, depending on the material.
If a current density J is passed through a homogeneous conductor, heat production per unit volume
is:

where
ρ is the resistivity of the material
dT/dx is the temperature gradient along the wire
μ is the Thomson coefficient.
The first term ρ J² is simply the Joule heating, which is not reversible.
The second term is the Thomson heat, which changes sign when J changes direction.
Thermoelectric effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In metals such as zinc and copper, which have a hotter end at a higher potential and a cooler end at
a lower potential, when current moves from the hotter end to the colder end, it is moving from a high
to a low potential, so there is an evolution of heat. This is called the positive Thomson effect.
In metals such as cobalt, nickel, and iron, which have a cooler end at a higher potential and a hotter
end at a lower potential, when current moves from the hotter end to the colder end, it is moving from
a low to a high potential, there is an absorption of heat. This is called the negative Thomson
effect.
The Thomson coefficient is unique among the three main thermoelectric coefficients because it is the
only thermoelectric coefficient directly measurable for individual materials. The Peltier and Seebeck
coefficients can only be determined for pairs of materials. Thus, there is no direct experimental
method to determine an absolute Seebeck coefficient (i.e. thermopower) or absolute Peltier coefficient
for an individual material. However, as mentioned elsewhere in this article there are two equations,
the Thomson relations, also known as the Kelvin relations (see below), relating the three
thermoelectric coefficients. Therefore, only one can be considered unique.
If the Thomson coefficient of a material is measured over a wide temperature range, including
temperatures close to zero, one can then integrate the Thomson coefficient over the temperature
range using the Kelvin relations to determine the absolute (i.e. single-material) values for the Peltier
and Seebeck coefficients. In principle, this need only be done for one material, since all other values
can be determined by measuring pairwise Seebeck coefficients in thermocouples containing the
reference material and then adding back the absolute thermoelecric power (thermopower) of the
reference material.
It is commonly asserted that lead has a zero Thomson effect. While it is true that the thermoelectric
coefficients of lead are small, they are in general non-zero. The Thomson coefficient of lead has been
measured over a wide temperature range and has been integrated to calculate the absolute
thermoelectric power (thermopower) of lead as a function of temperature.[4]
Unlike lead, the thermoelectric coefficients of all known superconductors are zero.

The Thomson relationships [edit]

The Seebeck effect is a combination of the Peltier and Thomson effects. In 1854 Thomson found two
relationships, now called the Thomson or Kelvin relationships, between the corresponding
coefficients. The absolute temperature T, the Peltier coefficient Π and Seebeck coefficient S are
related by the second Thomson relation

which predicted the Thomson effect before it was actually formalized. These are related to the
Thomson coefficient μ by the first Thomson relation

Thomson's theoretical treatment of thermoelectricity is remarkable in the fact that it is probably the
first attempt to develop a reasonable theory of irreversible thermodynamics (non-equilibrium
thermodynamics). This occurred at about the time that Clausius, Thomson, and others were
introducing and refining the concept of entropy.

Figure of merit [edit]

The figure of merit for thermoelectric devices is defined as

where σ is the electrical conductivity, κ is the thermal conductivity, and S is the Seebeck coefficient
or thermopower (conventionally in μV/K). This is more commonly expressed as the dimensionless
figure of merit ZT by multiplying it with the average temperature ( (T 2 + T 1 ) / 2 ). Greater values of ZT
indicate greater thermodynamic efficiency, subject to certain provisions, particularly the requirement
that the two materials of the couple have similar Z values. ZT is therefore a very convenient figure for
comparing the potential efficiency of devices using different materials. Values of ZT=1 are considered
good, and values of at least the 3–4 range are considered to be essential for thermoelectrics to
compete with mechanical generation and refrigeration in efficiency. To date, the best reported ZT
values have been in the 2–3 range.[5][6][7] Much research in thermoelectric materials has focused
on increasing the Seebeck coefficient and reducing the thermal conductivity, especially by
manipulating the nanostructure of the materials.

Device efficiency [edit]

The efficiency of a thermoelectric device for electricity generation is given by η, defined as

, and

where TH is the temperature at the hot junction and TC is the temperature at the surface being
cooled. is the modified dimensionless figure of merit which now takes into consideration the
thermoelectric capacity of both thermoelectric materials being used in the power generating device,
and is defined as

where ρ is the electrical resistivity, is the average temperature between the hot and cold surfaces,
and the subscripts n and p denote properties related to the n- and p-type semiconducting
thermoelectric materials, respectively. It is worthwhile to note that the efficiency of a thermoelectric
device is limited by the Carnot efficiency (hence the TH and TC terms in Φmax ), since thermoelectric
devices are still inherently heat engines.
The COP of current commercial thermoelectric refrigerators ranges from 0.3 to 0.6, only about one-
sixth the value of traditional vapor-compression refrigerators.[8]

Uses [edit]

See also: Thermoelectric materials

Seebeck effect [edit]

Main article: Thermoelectric generator
The Seebeck effect can be used to turn any heat source into electrical power. These devices, called
thermoelectric generators (or "thermogenerators") function like a heat engine, but less bulky, with no
moving parts, and typically more expensive and less efficient.
Any power plant produces waste heat, which can be used to generate additional power using a
thermoelectric generator (a form of energy recycling). This is potentially an enormous market.
Automobiles also produce waste heat, and harvesting it could increase fuel efficiency. For more
information see Automotive Thermoelectric Generators.
Space probes often use Radioisotope thermoelectric generators.
Solar cells use only the high frequency part of the radiation, while the low frequency heat energy is
wasted. Several patents about the use of thermoelectric devices in tandem with solar cells have been
filed. The idea is to increase the efficiency of the combined solar/thermoelectric system to convert the
solar radiation into useful electricity.

The Peltier effect can be used to create a refrigerator which is compact and has no circulating fluid or
moving parts. For more information see Peltier cooler.

Thermocouples and thermopiles are commonly used to measure temperatures. They use the
Seebeck effect. More precisely, they do not directly measure temperature, they measure temperature
differences between the probe and the voltmeter at the other end of the wires. The temperature of
the voltmeter, usually the same as room temperature, can be measured separately using "cold
junction compensation" techniques.

Heat transfer
Joule's laws
Pyroelectricity – the creation of an electric field in a crystal after uniform heating
Spintronics
Thermionic emission
Thermoacoustic refrigeration
Thermodiffusion
Thermoelectric cooling
Thermoelectricity
Thermoelectric generator
Thermopile
Thermopower
Electroplating
Electroplating is a plating process in which metal ions in a
solution are moved by an electric field to coat an electrode.
The process uses electrical current to reduce cations of a
desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object
with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal.
Electroplating is primarily used for depositing a layer of
material to bestow a desired property (e.g., abrasion and wear
resistance, corrosion protection, lubricity, aesthetic qualities,
etc.) to a surface that otherwise lacks that property. Another
application uses electroplating to build up thickness on copper electroplating machine for
undersized parts. layering PCBs

The process used in electroplating is called electrodeposition. It is analogous to a galvanic cell

acting in reverse. The part to be plated is the cathode of the circuit. In one technique, the anode is
made of the metal to be plated on the part. Both components are immersed in a solution called an
electrolyte containing one or more dissolved metal salts as well as other ions that permit the flow of
electricity. A power supply supplies a direct current to the anode, oxidizing the metal atoms that
comprise it and allowing them to dissolve in the solution. At the cathode, the dissolved metal ions in
the electrolyte solution are reduced at the interface between the solution and the cathode, such that
they "plate out" onto the cathode. The rate at which the anode is dissolved is equal to the rate at
which the cathode is plated, vis-a-vis the current flowing through the circuit. In this manner, the ions
in the electrolyte bath are continuously replenished by the anode.[1]

Other electroplating processes may use a nonconsumable anode such as lead. In these techniques,
ions of the metal to be plated must be periodically replenished in the bath as they are drawn out of
the solution.[2]

Process
The anode and cathode in the electroplating cell are both
connected to an external supply of direct current - a battery
or, more commonly, a rectifier. The anode is connected to the
positive terminal of the supply, and the cathode (article to be
plated) is connected to the negative terminal. When the
external power supply is switched on, the metal at the anode
is oxidized from the zero valence state to form cations with a
positive charge. These cations associate with the anions in the
solution. The cations are reduced at the cathode to deposit in
the metallic, zero valence state. For example, in an acid
solution, copper is oxidized at the anode to Cu2+ by losing
two electrons. The Cu2+ associates with the anion SO42- in the
solution to form copper sulfate. At the cathode, the Cu2+ is
reduced to metallic copper by gaining two electrons. The
result is the effective transfer of copper from the anode
source to a plate covering the cathode.
Electroplating of a metal (Me) with
The plating is most commonly a single metallic element, not copper in a copper sulfate bath.
an alloy. However, some alloys can be electrodeposited,
notably brass and solder.

Many plating baths include cyanides of other metals (e.g., potassium cyanide) in addition to cyanides
of the metal to be deposited. These free cyanides facilitate anode corrosion, help to maintain a
constant metal ion level and contribute to conductivity. Additionally, non-metal chemicals such as
carbonates and phosphates may be added to increase conductivity.

When plating is not desired on certain areas of the substrate, stop-offs are applied to prevent the bath
from coming in contact with the substrate. Typical stop-offs include tape, foil, lacquers, and waxes.
[3]

Strike
Initially, a special plating deposit called a "strike" or "flash" may be used to form a very thin
(typically less than 0.1 micrometer thick) plating with high quality and good adherence to the
substrate. This serves as a foundation for subsequent plating processes. A strike uses a high current
density and a bath with a low ion concentration. The process is slow, so more efficient plating
processes are used once the desired strike thickness is obtained.

The striking method is also used in combination with the plating of different metals. If it is desirable
to plate one type of deposit onto a metal to improve corrosion resistance but this metal has inherently
poor adhesion to the substrate, a strike can be first deposited that is compatible with both. One
example of this situation is the poor adhesion of electrolytic nickel on zinc alloys, in which case a
copper strike is used, which has good adherence to both.[2]

Current density
The current density (current of the electroplating current divided by the surface area of the part) in
this process strongly influences the deposition rate, plating adherence, and plating quality. This
density can vary over the surface of a part, as outside surfaces will tend to have a higher current
density than inside surfaces (e.g., holes, bores, etc.). The higher the current density, the faster the
deposition rate will be, although there is a practical limit enforced by poor adhesion and plating
quality when the deposition rate is too high.
While most plating cells use a continuous direct current,
some employ a cycle of 8–15 seconds on followed by 1–3
seconds off. This technique is commonly referred to as "pulse
plating" and allows high current densities to be used while
still producing a quality deposit. In order to deal with the
uneven plating rates that result from high current densities,
the current is even sometimes reversed in a method known as
"pulse-reverse plating", causing some of the plating from the
thicker sections to re-enter the solution. In effect, this allows
the "valleys" to be filled without over-plating the "peaks".
This is common on rough parts or when a bright finish is
required.[3] In a typical pulse reverse operation, the reverse
current density is three times greater than the forward current
density and the reverse pulse width is less than one-quarter
the forward pulse width. Pulse-reverse processes can be
operated at a wide range of frequencies from several hundred
hertz up to the order of megahertz.

Brush electroplating
A closely-related process is brush electroplating, in which
localized areas or entire items are plated using a brush
saturated with plating solution. The brush, typically a
stainless steel body wrapped with a cloth material that both
holds the plating solution and prevents direct contact with the
item being plated, is connected to the positive side of a low
voltage direct-current power source, and the item to be plated
connected to the negative. The operator dips the brush in
plating solution then applies it to the item, moving the brush
continually to get an even distribution of the plating material.
The brush acts as the anode, but typically does not contribute
any plating material, although sometimes the brush is made
from or contains the plating material in order to extend the
life of the plating solution.

Brush electroplating has several advantages over tank plating,

including portability, ability to plate items that for some
reason cannot be tank plated (one application was the plating
of portions of very large decorative support columns in a
building restoration), low or no masking requirements, and
comparatively low plating solution volume requirements.
Disadvantages compared to tank plating can include greater
operator involvement (tank plating can frequently be done A timecourse of electroplating with
with minimal attention), and inability to achieve as great a copper. The anode on the left is pure
plate thickness. copper, the safety pin on the right is
the target for plating. The first
Electroless deposition image is before the electrical supply
has been connected, the second
image shows plating with a thin
Usually an electrolytic cell (consisting of two electrodes, layer of copper and the later images
electrolyte, and external source of current) is used for show the buildup of "fluffy"
electrodeposition. In contrast, an electroless deposition structurally weak deposits.
process uses only one electrode and no external source of
electric current. However, the solution for the electroless
process needs to contain a reducing agent so that the electrode reaction has the form:
In principle any water-based reducer can be used although the redox potential of the reducer half-cell
must be high enough to overcome the energy barriers inherent in liquid chemistry. Electroless nickel
plating uses hypophosphite as the reducer while plating of other metals like silver, gold and copper
typically use low molecular weight aldehydes.

A major benefit of this approach over electroplating is that power sources and plating baths are not
needed, reducing the cost of production. The technique can also plate diverse shapes and types of
surface. The downside is that the plating process is usually slower and cannot create such thick
plates of metal. As a consequence of these characteristics, electroless deposition is quite common in
the decorative arts.

Cleanliness
Cleanliness is essential to successful electroplating, since molecular layers of oil can prevent
adhesion of the coating. ASTM B322 is a standard guide for cleaning metals prior to electroplating.
Cleaning processes include solvent cleaning, hot alkaline detergent cleaning, electrocleaning, and
acid etc. The most common industrial test for cleanliness is the waterbreak test, in which the surface
is thoroughly rinsed and held vertical. Hydrophobic contaminants such as oils cause the water to
bead and break up, allowing the water to drain rapidly. Perfectly clean metal surfaces are hydrophilic
and will retain an unbroken sheet of water that does not bead up or drain off. ASTM F22 describes a
version of this test. This test does not detect hydrophilic contaminants, but the electroplating process
can displace these easily since the solutions are water-based. Surfactants such as soap reduce the
sensitivity of the test and must be thoroughly rinsed off.

Effects
Electroplating changes the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of the workpiece. An
example of a chemical change is when nickel plating improves corrosion resistance. An example of a
physical change is a change in the outward appearance. An example of a mechanical change is a
change in tensile strength or surface hardness.[4]

Limitations
Obtaining a uniform thickness with electroplating can be difficult depending on the geometry of the
object being plated. The plating metal is preferentially attracted to external corners and protrusions,
but unattracted to internal corners and recesses. These difficulties can be overcome with multiple
anodes or a specially shaped anode that mimics the object geometry, however both of these solutions
increase cost.[5] The ability of a plating to cover uniformly is called throwing power; the better the
"throwing power" the more uniform the coating.[6]

One cannot electroplate chrome or silver on any given substrate directly. Many plating processes
require an intermediate plating step. For example, when chrome plating carbon steel, one would need
to electroplate copper on top of carbon steel, followed by nickel and then chrome to get uniform
chrome plated part. These additional steps add considerably to the cost and time to electroplate.
Thicker coatings require similar multilayer structures. A hard chrome coating would require multiple
alternating coatings of copper and chrome.

History
Although it is not confirmed, the Parthian Battery may have
been the first system used for electroplating.

Modern electrochemistry was invented by Italian chemist

Luigi V. Brugnatelli in 1805. Brugnatelli used his colleague
Alessandro Volta's invention of five years earlier, the voltaic
pile, to facilitate the first electrodeposition. Brugnatelli's
inventions were suppressed by the French Academy of
Sciences and did not become used in general industry for the
following thirty years. Nickel plating

By 1839, scientists in Britain and Russia had independently devised metal deposition processes
similar to Brugnatelli's for the copper electroplating of printing press plates. Soon after, John Wright
of Birmingham, England discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for gold and
silver electroplating. Wright's associates, George Elkington and Henry Elkington were awarded the
first patents for electroplating in 1840. These two then founded the electroplating industry in
Birmingham from where it spread around the world.

The Norddeutsche Affinerie in Hamburg was the first modern electroplating plant starting its
production in 1876.[7]

As the science of electrochemistry grew, its relationship to the electroplating process became
understood and other types of non-decorative metal electroplating processes were developed.
Commercial electroplating of nickel, brass, tin, and zinc were developed by the 1850s. Electroplating
baths and equipment based on the patents of the Elkingtons were scaled up to accommodate the
plating of numerous large scale objects and for specific manufacturing and engineering applications.

The plating industry received a big boost from the advent of the development of electric generators
in the late 19th century. With the higher currents, available metal machine components, hardware,
and automotive parts requiring corrosion protection and enhanced wear properties, along with better
appearance, could be processed in bulk.

The two World Wars and the growing aviation industry gave impetus to further developments and
refinements including such processes as hard chromium plating, bronze alloy plating, sulfamate
nickel plating, along with numerous other plating processes. Plating equipment evolved from
manually operated tar-lined wooden tanks to automated equipment, capable of processing thousands
of kilograms per hour of parts.

One of the American physicist Richard Feynman's first projects was to develop technology for
electroplating metal onto plastic. Feynman developed the original idea of his friend into a successful
invention, allowing his employer (and friend) to keep commercial promises he had made but could
not have fulfilled otherwise.[8]

Hull cell
The Hull cell is a type of test cell used to qualitatively check
the condition of a electroplating bath. It allows for
optimization for current density range, optimization of
additive concentration, recognition of impurity effects and
indication of macro-throwing power capability.[9] The Hull
cell replicates the plating bath on a lab scale. It is filled with a
sample of the plating solution, an appropriate anode which is
connected to a rectifier. The "work" is replaced with a hull A zinc solution tested in a hull cell
cell test panel that will be plated to show the "health" of the
bath.

The Hull cell is a trapezoidal container that holds 267 ml of solution. This shape allows one to place
the test panel on an angle to the anode. As a result, the deposit is plated at different current densities
which can be measured with a hull cell ruler. The solution volume allows for a quantitative
optimization of additive concentration: 1 gram addition to 267 mL is equivalent to 0.5 oz/gal in the
plating tank.[10]

See also
■ Anodization
■ Chrome plating
■ Electrochemistry
■ Electrogalvanization
■ Electromigration
■ Electropolishing
■ Galvanization
■ Gilding and Angel gilding
Industrial etching
Nickel electroplating