Synthesis and characterization of electrodeposited hierarchical nanodendritic NiCoFe alloy powders

Ternary Ni50Co30Fe20 powders with an open dendritic structure were made by electrodeposition. The diffusion controlled deposition allows fabrication of alloy powders with a composition corresponding to that of the electrolyte. Their morphology was studied by electron microscopy methods revealing that the particles have a highly branched dendritic structure extending from the micrometer scale to the nanoscale containing a high density of defects as grain boundaries and twin boundaries. We propose that this structure forms by massive repeated nucleation far off thermodynamical equilibrium at a high current density under strong hydrogen bubble evolution. The nanodendritic structure could be of interest for practical applications due to their high density of active sites and high surface area. The powders are envisioned for electrochemical applications.

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► NiCoFe alloy powders were achieved by electrodeposition at high current density.
► The composition of the powders corresponds to that of the electrolyte.
► With increasing deposition time particles grow but the crystallite size is constant.
► The particles have a highly branched open dendritic structure and high surface area.
► The particles contain a high density of defects such as grain and twin boundaries.