Aluminium electrodeposition fron ionic liquid: effect of deposition temperature and sonication

Abstract

Abstract:Since their discovery, ionic liquids (IL) have attracted a wide interest for their potential use as medium for many chemical processes, which vary from extraction, to catalysis, to organic synthesis to energy storage. Th eir use as electrochemical media allowed the electrodeposition of metals that are impossible to reduce in aqueous media. In particular, the first generation ILs, namely chloroaluminated ILs, have made possible the deposition of aluminium from his chloride salt. Despite the discovery of this process in the nineties, nowadays aluminium electrodeposition from chloroaluminate ILs still maintains a number of open issues regarding both fundamental and technological aspects. The present communication aims to shed some light about this process as concerns the effect of deposition parameters on the quality of the deposits. Thick (20 μm) Al-coatings were electrodeposited on brass substrates at different temperature and mixing conditions. The so obtained coatings were investigated by means of scanning electron microscope, rugosimetry and X-ray diffraction to asses their morphology and phase composition. Finally, with the intent to correlate the coating structures with their corrosion properties, electrochemical corrosion tests were performed.