Historical Articles

December, 1952 issue of Plating

 

Electrochemical Society Honors Dr. William Blum

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Dr. Blum was made an Honorary Member of the Electrochemical Society at the 102nd meeting of the Society in Montreal. At a general Society luncheon on October 27 Mr. George B. Hogaboom lauded Dr. Blum’s accomplishments and commented upon his inspiration to many from a personal standpoint because of his close association with Dr. Blum over many years. Both attended the first Electrochemical Society meeting in Atlantic City in 1912 and George reported that subsequently Dr. Blum served as Secretary of the Electrodeposition Section and President of the Society in 1926, and over the years was author of 12 papers and co-author of a dozen more.

J. C. Warner, President of the Electrochemical Society, presents a certificate of Honorary membership to William Blum Mr. George Hogaboom completes the trio.

Mr. Hogaboom spelled out the many honors conferred on Dr. Blum, including Honorary Membership in the A. E. S. and the A. E. S. Research Committee.

Addressing President Warner, Dr. Blum expressed his gratitude for the honor and explained it as the result of loyal cooperation of many associates. He then justified the existence of the Electrochemical Society and other specialized organizations on a two-fold basis:

(1) The society makes it possible to increase the specialized knowledge of the members, and

(2) It gives the member an opportunity to learn as much science outside his immediate field as possible.

Abstracts of the twenty-four papers presented before the Electrodeposition Division, not including six presented in joint session with the Industrial Electrolytic Division, will be reported herewith and in the January issue of PLATING—ELECTRODEPOSITION OF COPPER FROM THE MONOETHANOLAMINE BATH—T. L. Rama Char and N. B. Shivaraman—Copper deposits from a complex copper-monoethanolamine solution are smooth, fine-grained, bright and adherent. The inclusion of Rochelle salt considerably improves its performance. The optimum conditions are: copper oxalate 60 g/l, monoethanolamine 60 ml/l, Rochelle salt 60 g/l, 2.4 to 4.8 amp/dm2 (22.3 to 44.6 amp/ft2), 2.9 to 4.3 volts, pH 9.5, and 24° C The addition of nitrates has some beneficial effect.

STUDIES OF THE MECHANISM OF BRIGHT PLATING IN THE ACID COPPER BATH—Bacon Ke and Dan Trivich—In the acid copper bath, polarography shows that thiourea suppresses the maximum and shifts E1/2 for copper to more negative potentials, while dextrin lowers the diffusion current, the effects of the two being additive. With brighteners, the deposits are polycrystalline and bright all over. Thiourea with S35 shows no localized adsorption on Cu single crystals.

THE ELECTRODEPOSITION OF COPPER AND NICKEL—John Yeager, Ernest Yeager and Frank Hovorlta—Polarization and structural measurements were made for copper and nickel as typical metals with low and high polarization. A stream of electrolyte was directed past the electrode to minimize concentration polarization. The build-up and decay of the polarization following the polarization and interruption of the current were also determined.

THE EFFECT OF ULTRASONIC WAVES ON THE ELECTRODEPOSITION OF COPPER— W. R. Wolfe, Hyman Chessin, Ernest Yeager and Frank Hovorka—The effects of ultrasonic waves on the electrodeposition of copper were determined at frequencies of 200 and 1000 kc/sec with acid plating baths of various concentrations. Polarization measurements were made by the direct method, while structural information concerning the deposits were obtained through X-ray and photomicrographic studies.

A NEW APPROACH TO THE INVESTIGATION OF ADDITION AGENTS—B. I. Parsons and C. A. Winkler—The system under investigation is a copper-copper sulfate-sulfuric acid bath with gelatin as addition agent. Changes in cathode polarization in a Haring Cell were determined with a cathode ray oscillograph. If no addition agent is present the polarization rises almost instantaneously to 100 mv after the current is switched on, then slowly increases to 110 mv. When gelatin is present in the electrolyte the polarization rises to about 20 mv within five seconds, falls to 200 mv during the next ten seconds of deposition, then slowly increases to the steady state polarization characteristic of the gelatin concentration.

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