Rhodium Plating

Rhodium is white in color and is a precious metal, meaning non-oxidizing.  Rhodium is a member of the Platinum Group of Metals. The Platinum Group of Metals is a group of six metals which include platinum, rhodium, palladium ruthenium, osmium, and iridium.  These six metals all share some common physical properties.  They have high melting points, are very dense, are very hard, and are very resistant to corrosion.

Rhodium is the hardest of the PGM’s.  Its’ hardness is about 800.  Compare that to cobalt hardened gold at 200 knoop,14k ElectricGold at 400 knoop and at 400 knoop.  Rhodium is the hardest, most wear resistant metal that we plate at Professional Plating.  In addition to its’ hardness, rhodium is extremely resistant to corrosion.  Rhodium is an excellent choice where contact with corrosive gases or other high corrosion environments will be encountered.  Remember also that as the operating environment temperature increases, the corrosion rate will also increase.  So in high temperature applications, rhodium will provide a longer life cycle, than, for example, gold will.  Rhodium will reliably operate beyond 1000F.

Rhodium is an extremely bright white metal. It is much whiter than palladium and platinum.  For this reason and because of its’ extreme hardness, rhodium is very commonly used as an electroplated surface for fine jewelry.

Rhodium plated product is well suited for such applications as sliding electrical contacts that require protection from sliding contact wear or galling.  Also, because of its’ high temperature tolerance to oxidation, rhodium is an extremely good choice for high voltage/high amperage electrical contacts where contact arcing would otherwise cause the formation of highly electrically resistive oxide formations on the contact surface.