Nickel

• Electroless nickel plating produces a hard nickel surface coating on ceramic objects. It is commonly used on valves and pump parts due to its high corrosion resistance. Nickel is a popular coating for machined parts because of its uniformity of deposit and solderability.
  
  

Copper

• Electroless copper plating consists of a five step process which includes cleaning, activation, acceleration, deposition and an anti-tarnish bath. This process involves the use of many hazardous chemicals and is not widely used today.
  
  

Gold

• When plating ceramic parts with gold, the parts are first electroless plated in nickel. Parts plated with this combination of metals are wire bondable and solderable. Gold can be deposited onto the parts to any desired thickness. Gold electroless plating is commonly used for making jewelry.
  
  

Silver

• Silver is often used for plating automotive engine components. Silver electroless plating provides high electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance and high friction and wear properties. The plating solution for silver consists of silver nitrate, ammonium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate and/or bicarbonate and hydrazine hydrate. Silver is often used when making jewelry.