Basically, Galvanizing Metal Without Acid

As useful as steel and iron are to the modern world, their tendency to rust is a major downside. There’s a spectrum of ways to prevent it, from quickly slapping …. Basically, Galvanizing Metal Without Acid.

There’s a spectrum of ways to prevent it, from quickly slapping on a coat of paint on the easy side to alloying, chromizing, or physical vapor deposition at the extremely difficult or industrial-only end. For a middle ground accessible to the home shop, galvanizing is a go-to method of rust prevention that deposits a layer of zinc onto the metal instead, but even this generally involves the use of strong acids. This method, though, makes galvanizing accessible without any acids.

(Spoiler alert: substitute strong bases.) Although the acids are omitted, the solution is caustic, so similar safety measures are still advised. The first step in the process is to dissolve sodium hydroxide into a container of distilled water. Metallic zinc can then be dissolved in the solution, with a bit of sugar and liquid soap to improve the finished quality of the coating.

An electric current is applied to the solution, using a graphite plate at the anode and the part to be electroplated as the cathode.