AN ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS FOR CLEANING ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING SURFACES

An electrolytic process for simultaneously cleaning and metal-coating the surface of a workpiece of an electrically conducting material, which process comprises: i) providing an electrolytic cell with a cathode comprising the surface of the workpiece and an anode comprising the metal for metal-coating of the surface of the workpiece; ii) introducing an electrolyte into the zone created between the anode and the cathode by causing it to flow under pressure through at least one opening in the anode and thereby impinge on the cathode; and iii) applying a voltage between the anode and the cathode and operating in a regime in which the electrical current decreases or remains substantially constant with increase in the voltage applied between the anode and the cathode, and in a regime in which discrete gas bubbles are present on the surface of the workpiece during treatment.