The deposition
of a thin gold layer or coating onto a conducting substrate, typically a base
metal, by electrolysis, usually from
a gold potassium cyanide electrolyte.
Electroplating
is widely used in the electronics industry
to coat contact points but also has many decorative applications in the plating
of costume jewellery, watches, cigarette lighters and pens. It is also used in
aerospace, where a thinly deposited layer of gold reflects heat from jet or rocket
engines. The gold plating is often as thin
as one thousandth of a millimetre.