How can I dip in gold a natural dissect leaf for jewelry?

Question

I saw "dissect" natural leafs for greetings cards and in some occasion for jewelry, I want to know the technique(s) to do dipping in gold and/or silver; I know that electrolysis works only on metal, It does works in organic compounds?

Answer 1

There are ways to electroplate nonmetallic objects.  Generally, a conductive paint is applied, and then the object is electroplated.  The paint usually contains graphite particles.  See the link for more information.

It seems to me like the simplest way would be to use gold or silver (get palladium or aluminum leaf instead to avoid tarnish) leaf to cover the leaf or other natural object - I am not sure how easily this can be done, but you should look into it.

And as mentioned before, sputtering or thermal evaporation would both work, but require very expensive equipment.

Answer 2

No, electrolysis does not work for typical organic compounds.  The temperature of molten gold or silver would quickly burn up any organic matter.  What you saw may have been hand crafted or molded.

There is also a "sputter coat" process done in a vacuum chamber, but that if more for microscopy and too expensive for jewelers or gift makers.