Electrochemical formation of Mg-Li-Y alloys by co-deposition of magnesium, lithium and yttrium ions in molten chlorides

An electrochemical approach for the preparation of Mg-Li-Y alloys via co-reduction of Mg, Li, and Y on a molybdenum electrode in LiCl-KCl-MgCl2-YCl3 melts at 943 K was investigated. Cyclic voltammograms （CVs） illuminated that the underpotential deposition （UPD） of yttrium on pre-deposited magnesium led to the formation of a liquid Mg-Y alloy, and the succeeding underpotential deposition of lithium on pre-deposited Mg-Y led to the formation of a liquid Mg-Li-Y alloy. Chronopotentiometry measurements indicated that the order of electrode reactions was as follows： discharge of Mg（II） to Mg-metal, electroreduction of Y on the surface of Mg with formation of ε-Mg24＋xY5 and after that the discharge of Li＋ with the deposition of Mg-Li-Y alloys. X-ray diffraction （XRD） indicated that Mg-Li-Y alloys with different phases were formed via galvanostatic electrolysis. The microstructure of different phases of Mg-Li-Y alloys was characterized by optical microscope （OM） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The analysis results of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer （ICP-AES） showed that the chemical compositions of Mg-Li-Y alloys corresponded with the phase structures of the XRD patterns, and the lithium and yttrium contents of Mg-Li-Y alloys depended on the concentrations of MgCl2 and YCl3 .