Electrodeposition of aluminum and aluminum-magnesium alloys at room temperature

Electrodeposition of aluminum from benzene-tetrahydrofuran-Al Cl3-Li Al H4 was studied at room temperature. Galvanostatic electrolysis was used to investigate the effect of various parameters on deposit morphology and crystal size, including current density, temperature, molar ratio of benzene/tetrahydrofuran and stirring speed. The deposit microstructure was adjusted by changing the parameters, and the optimum operating conditions were determined. Dense, bright and adherent aluminum coatings were obtained over a wide range of current densities(10-25 m A/cm2), molar ratio of benzene and tetrahydrofuran(4:1 to 7:8) and stirring speeds(200-500 r/min). Smaller grain sizes and well-adhered deposits were obtained at lower temperatures. Aluminum-magnesium alloys could potentially be used as hydrogen storage materials. A novel method for Al-Mg deposition was proposed by using pure Mg anodes in the organic solvents system benzene-tetrahydrofuran-Al Cl3-Li Al H4. XRD shows that the aluminum-magnesium alloys are mainly Al3Mg2 and Al12Mg17.

Electrochemical deposition of aluminum on W electrode from AlCl_3-NaCl melts

Electrochemical deposition of aluminum on W electrode from AlCl3-NaCl melts was studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry. The results show that Al ( Ⅲ) is reduced in two consecutive steps, i.e., 4Al2Cl7-+3e-→Al+7AlCl4- and then AlCl4-+3e-→Al+4Cl-. The electrochemical reaction of 4Al2Cl7-+3e-→Al+7AlCl4- is reversible. Certain nucleation overpotential is required during the deposition of aluminum on W electrode. Chronopotentiometry analysis also shows that Al (Ⅲ ) is reduced in two consecutive steps under certain current density, which is in reasonable agreement with cyclic voltammograms. By using constant current deposition, the electrodeposits on Al substrate obtained at between 50 and 100 mA/cm2 are quite dense and well adherent to the Al substrate. The electrochemical deposition of aluminum on Cu substrate in AlCl3-NaCl melts indicates that the intermetallic compounds are formed. The intermetallic compounds are AlCu and Al2Cu.

Dissolution rate determination of alumina in molten cryolite-based aluminum electrolyte

Determination of dissolution rate of alumina is one of the classical problems in aluminum electrolysis. A novel method which can measure the dissolution rate of alumina was presented. Effect of factors on dissolution rate of alumina was studied intuitively and roundly using transparent quartz electrobath and image analysis techniques. Images about dissolution process of alumina were taken at an interval of fixed time from transparent quartz electrobath of double rooms. Gabor wavelet transforms were used for extracting and describing the texture features of each image. After subsampling several times, the dissolution rate of alumina was computed using these texture features in local neighborhood of samples. Regression equation of the dissolution rate of alumina was obtained using these dissolution rates. Experiments show that the regression equation of the dissolution rate of alumina is y=-0.000 5x^3＋0.024 0x^2-0.287 3x＋ 1.276 7 for Na3AIF6-AIF3-Al2O3-CaF2-LiF- MgF2 system at 920 ℃.

Effects of Surfactants SDS and CTAB on Ni-SiC Deposition

The influences of surfactant type and concentration on the content and uniformity of SiC particles in Ni-SiC deposit were studied in this paper. The electrochemical behavior of preparing Ni-SiC composite coating was investigated using the cyclic voltammetry method. Then the impact of surfactants on the deposition potential of Ni-SiC coating was analyzed. Electrochemical studies showed that the cathode overvoltage increases gradually with increasing SDS（Sodium dodecyl sulfate） concentration. The CV curve showed the shift towards a lower current at a given potential with increasing SDS concentration. Ni-SiC composite coatings were prepared by electrodeposition. The experimental results show that the dispersion of 40 nm SiC in Ni-SiC coating obtained in the electrolyte containing SDS is superior that containing CTAB（cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide）. CTAB increases the content of 40 nm SiC particles in the Ni-SiC coating, but the uniformity of 40 nm SiC particles in Ni-SiC composite coating is poor. SiC particles are still agglomerated. Compared with the anionic surfactant SDS and the cationic surfactant CTAB, surfactant SDS makes the particles better dispersed. But the contribution of surfactant SDS for co-deposition amount of SiC particles is negligible. The cationic surfactant CTAB can effectively improve the suspension performance of SiC particles and promote the co-deposition of SiC particles and metallic nickel. But there is still some reunion of SiC.

低温熔融盐体系电沉积制备铝锡合金

以AlCl_(3)-NaCl-KCl低温熔融盐体系作为电解质,无水SnCl_(2)作为原料,对电沉积制备Al-Sn合金进行研究。通过扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、能谱(EDS)和X射线衍射仪(XRD)分析合金产物的形貌和成分组成;通过极化曲线法和摩擦磨损实验对合金产物的耐蚀性和耐磨减摩性进行检测分析;通过维氏硬度计和涂层附着力自动划痕仪对合金产物的硬度与膜基结合力进行表征。结果表明:当SnCl_(2)添加量为0.04~0.08 g时可制备出锡含量为10%~18%的中锡铝合金,最佳沉积温度为160~200℃、沉积时间为40~50 min、电流密度为40~50 mA/cm^(2);随镀层中锡含量的提高,其耐蚀性逐渐变差,而耐摩擦磨损性能先提高后降低,并在SnCl_(2)添加量为0.06 g,即镀层中锡的含量为14 wt%时有最佳摩擦磨损性能;沉积温度对合金镀层的硬度及结合力有很大影响,随沉积温度的升高,合金镀层的膜基结合力和硬度均呈现先提高后降低的趋势,当沉积温度为200℃时,其结合力和硬度最佳。