Carbon disulfide, the first brightener for silver plating, was proposed by Milword and Lyons in a patent issued in 1847 and is still in use, with only minor changes. The silver coating is much cheaper than gold plating, and has high conductivity, light reflectivity and chemical stability to organic acids and alkali, so the use surface is much wider than gold. The early days were mainly used for decorations and tableware, and more and more applications were being used in aircraft and electronic products recently.

The silver plated layer is easy to polish, has strong reflective power and good thermal conductivity, conductive and welding properties. The silver coating was first used in decoration. In the electronics industry, communication configuration and instrument and instrument manufacturing, silver plating is generally accepted to eliminate the resistance of metal parts and improve the welding ability of metal. In addition, the metal reflector in searchlight and other reflectors also needs silver plating. Because the silver atom is easy to spread and slip along the material appearance, the silver whisker is easily produced in the moist atmosphere, so the silver coating should not be used in the printed circuit board. The silver plating solution used now is often cyanide bath.

The electroplated silver coating is used to prevent corrosion and increase conductivity, reflectivity and elegance. It is widely used in manufacturing industries such as electrical appliances, instruments, meters and lighting appliances. The industry of electrical appliances, instruments and other industries also accepts cyanide free silver plating. Electroplating solution uses thiosulfate, sulfite, thiocyanate, ferrocyanide and so on. In order to monitor the discoloration of silver coating, it is usually the end of the plating process. It is often dipped, chemical and electrochemical passivation, plating precious metal or some metal or coated layer.