Gold plating began in 1838 when the British invented cyanide gold plating, which was mainly used for decoration. In the 1940s, with the development of electronic industry, the price of gold soared, and most of them used thin gold plating. In order to further save gold, brush gold plating (selective gold plating) appeared in the 1960s, and pulse gold plating and laser gold plating appeared in the 1980s. 1950 discovered the stability of gold and potassium cyanide in the presence of organic acids, followed by neutral and weakly acidic gold plating solutions; In the late 1960s, cyanide-free gold plating was also applied, especially sulfite gold plating.
At present, the commonly used gold plating solutions can be divided into four categories: alkaline cyanide, acidic cyanide, neutral cyanide and cyanide-free. Gold plating solution is mostly patented formula, and additives are provided by professional companies.