Electroplating is a key process in many industrial fields such as automotive, electronics and decorative applications; this process makes it possible to provide new properties to substrates materials such as corrosion resistance, hardness and aesthetic value. Nonetheless, electroplating is considered one of the most non-sustainable industries related to the manufacturing sector, from both an environmental and a social point of view. With the approaching deadlines set by the United Nations for the 2030 Agenda, electroplating companies have started a trend of innovating their production processes with a focus on sustainability, acting on several fronts: performing simulations to predict criticalities and optimize working procedures, reducing the material used and recovering it from processing water. The purpose of this communication is to highlight the state of the art of sustainable practices peculiar to the electroplating industry, critically analyzing ongoing challenges to achieve and exceed the targets set by regulatory agencies. Both atomistic and multiphysics simulations will be analyzed as powerful tools to design both new sustainable formulations and items; then, the problem of metal dispersion will be discussed, evaluating different industrial approaches; finally, the focus will be shifted towards the general procedures to recover metal from wastewater.

The use of pulsed current is well known as a research tool to study the electrodeposition mechanism of metals, however, it was realized that this method could provide a means to improve the properties of deposits. Electrodeposition of gold or its alloys is not only used in the electronics industry due to its conductive and anti-corrosive properties, but also as a final layer due to its aesthetic properties. In this study we focused on a cyanide gold-nickel bath, among the most frequently used in the electroplating industry intended for the decorative sector. The use of modulated currents has proven to be an effective methodology to be able to control and improve the chemical and physical characteristics of metal deposits. Deposits obtained through pulsed currents have a smaller grain size and a more homogeneous surface, both at the level of thickness dispersion on the surface and at the roughness of the samples themselves. A direct consequence of the above results is the improvement of the aesthetic finish of the workpieces with an increase in brightness as well as anti-corrosive properties.