Pulse current electrodeposition of Al from an AlCl3-EMIC ionic liquid

Electrodeposition of aluminum from an AlCl3-EMIC ionic liquid with or without the addition of saturated LaCl3 was carried out by both direct- and pulse-current plating methods. The effects of various parameters, including current density, pulse frequency, current on/off duration (ton and toff), and temperature, on deposit morphology and crystal size were investigated. Deposits prepared by pulse-current plating gave a brighter and flatter surface than those prepared by direct-current plating at appropriate pulse current parameters. Temperature and pulse–current frequency (toff) were shown to significantly affect deposit morphology. Coalescence of grains during toff periods in the pulse current plating was observed, especially at temperatures above 60 °C. Increasing the temperature from 25 to 90 °C caused an increase in deposit grain size and resulted in a change of grain shapes from a small sphere-like form to a feather-like form. As a result, the adhesion of the deposited aluminum to the substrate was lowered. Smaller grain sizes and well-adhered deposits were achieved at lower temperatures. For example, deposition at 25 °C resulted in the smallest crystal size of about 0.3 μm under the conditions of ton = 80 ms, toff = 20 ms, and i = 8 mA/cm2. Furthermore, the addition of LaCl3 to the melt at 60 °C effectively reduced the porosity and improved compactness of deposits.