Electrolytes for electroplating

The dream would be that there will be - like water - one ionic liquid that is suited as a general liquid for all electrochemical reactions. It cannot be excluded that such a liquid will be produced in the future, but at present the field is in rather a developmental state. We ourselves were pretty surprised when we realized that the cation of an ionic liquid can have a dramatic effect on the electrodeposition of metals. A deeper understanding of ionic liquids will be required before ionic liquids become standard electrolytes for electroplating. 

Methane sulfonic acid is used as an electrolyte for electroplating of tin onto sheet steel, for plating tin and tin/lead alloy onto nickel or other base metal substrates in the manufacture of lead frames and bump-contacts for microelectronic devices.It can also be used for copper deposition during the manufacture of microprocessors. Other alkanesulfonic acids have also found use in electroplating applications. Disodium methanedisulfonate and other alkanedisulfonate salts are used in chrome plating.As discussed previously, several processes for the recovery and recycle of alkanesulfonic acids from spent metal plating baths have been described. 

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