Influence of additives on the electrodeposition of zinc from a deep eutectic solvent

The effects of nicotinic acid (NA), boric acid (BA) and benzoquinone (BQ) on the electrodeposition of Zn have been studied in a choline chloride (ChCl) ethylene glycol (EG) based deep eutectic solvent (DES), (1ChCl:2 EG), and for the first time a bright zinc coating has been achieved when NA was used. In metal electroplating processes, small-molecule additives are often included in the plating bath to improve properties of coating such as brightness, roughness, thickness, hardness and resistance to corrosion. The effects of additives on the electrodeposition of Zn from aqueous solution have been extensively investigated. However, very few studies have considered the effects of additives on the electrodeposition of Zn from ionic liquids or deep eutectic solvents. The electrochemical properties of the plating liquid have been studied here using cyclic voltammetry, chronocoulometry, chronoamperometry and microgravimetry (EQCM). Redox peak currents decrease when additives were included in the Zn solution and total charge was also reduced in experiments where additives were present. The Zn deposition in the absence of additive is in good agreement with an instantaneous growth mechanism at short experimental time scales (being indeterminate over longer periods), however, this changes to one of a progressive growth mechanism when additives were included in the coating bath. The current efficiency of zinc deposition in the DES without additives was 95%, which was reduced when additives were included. The resultant surface morphologies, thickness, topography, roughness and crystal structure of the Zn coating were revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), demonstrating that those additives serve as effective brighteners that can produce highly uniform and smooth zinc deposits

Nanocomposite Co-nSiC coatings electrodeposited from cobalt-gluconate bath via pulse reverse plating technique with anionic surfactant

The co-deposition of silicon carbide nanoparticles (50 ± 5 nm diameter) in an electrodeposited metallic cobalt matrix has been investigated under pulse reverse plating (PRP) conditions with the inclusion of an anionic surfactant. The effect of variable anionic surfactant content in the plating solution with a particle content of 5 g L−1 was evaluated using both direct current (DC) plating and PRP. The particle content of the coatings was investigated by varying the cathodic cycle during PRP by varying the cathodic cycle time between 30 and 240 s per pulse whilst maintaining a fixed anodic charge. The coatings were assessed by SEM and EDX in cross section to determine the effect of PRP parameters and anionic surfactant content on the particle content of. With no anionic surfactant, all coatings produced contained a similar particle content. Addition of anionic surfactant affected the SiC content of DC and PRP coatings. PRP combined with anionic surfactant to produce an electrophoretic nanoparticle delivery mechanism increasing the SiC content of coatings compared to DC coatings. Higher SiC content was observed at shorter cathodic cycle times.</p