Gold hydroxide, gold trihydroxide, or gold hydroxide is an inorganic compound

Inorganic compound

Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...

, a hydroxide

Hydroxide

Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH−. It consists of an oxygen and a hydrogen atom held together by a covalent bond, and carrying a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It functions as a base, as a ligand, a nucleophile, and a...

 of gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, with formula Au(OH)₃. It is also called auric acid with formula H₃AuO₃. It is easily dehydrated above 140 °C to gold(III) oxide

Gold(III) oxide

Gold oxide is the most stable oxide of gold. It is a red-brown, thermally unstable solid that decomposes at 160 °C. The hydrated form is weakly acidic and dissolves in concentrated alkali to form salts that are believed to contain the [Au4]− ion.Anhydrous AuO can be prepared by heating...

. Salts of auric acid are termed aurates.

Gold hydroxide is used in medicine, porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

 making, gold plating

Gold plating

Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver , by chemical or electrochemical plating...

, and daguerrotypes. Gold hydroxide deposited on suitable carriers can be used for preparation of gold catalysts.

Gold hydroxide is a product of electrochemical corrosion

Corrosion

Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

 of gold metalization subjected to moisture and positive electric potential; it is one of the corrosion failure modes

Failure modes of electronics

Electronic components have a wide range of failure modes. These can be classified in various ways, such as by time or cause. Failures can be caused by excess temperature, excess current or voltage, ionizing radiation, mechanical shock, stress or impact, and many other causes...

 of microelectronics

Microelectronics

Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture of very small electronic components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-scale or smaller,. These devices are made from semiconductors...

. Voluminous gold hydroxide is produced from gold metalization; after the layer grows thick it may spall, and the conductive particles may cause short circuits or leakage paths. Decrease of thickness of gold layer may also lead to increase of its electrical resistance.