Austenitic stainless steelStainless steel Supra 316L316L/1.44041.4404 has been utilized for decades as permanent cathodePermanent cathode plates in the last stages of pure copper productionCopper production. Outokumpu Europe has a long experience in supplying cathodeCathode specific steel for this use. The development of more efficient copperCopper electroplatingElectroplating material was initiated in order to increase the lifetime and reduce the cost fluctuation of permanent cathodePermanent cathode plate steels. Permanent cathodePermanent cathode plates are immersed in a corrosive environment, i.e. in sulphuric acid solution where it is expected that the steel does not corrode or dissolve during the operationOperation. The solution may consist of corrosive elementsElements like chloridesChloride, which together with elevated temperatures increase the material requirements. The corrosionCorrosion resistance of industry standard Supra 316L316L/1.404 is achieved by a combination of ~17% chromium and 2.0% molybdenum alloying. Additionally, nickelNickel content must be minimum of 10% in order to achieve austenitic non-magnetic microstructureMicrostructure at the room temperature. Recently developed austenitic stainless steelStainless steel gradeGrade Supra 316plus316plus/1.4420 is designed in such manner that the corrosionCorrosion resistance is achieved by increased chromium (20.3%) and nitrogen (0.20%) levels. Additionally, the nickelNickel content was reduced down to 8.6% and molybdenum down to 0.7% while retaining fully austenitic microstructureMicrostructure. This paper shows the development of cathodeCathode specific Supra 316plus316plus/1.4420 product. CopperCopper electroplatingElectroplating and adhesion performancePerformance have been compared to the typical Supra 316L316L stainless steelStainless steel in a laboratory environment by test plating and by measuring the separation force. Surface micrographs showcase the importance of surface microtopography on the copperCopper nucleation, growth and adhesion on top of stainless steelStainless steel. Mechanical properties are also compared and advantages in the copperCopper strippingStripping operationOperation are reviewed.