Preparation of amorphous rare-earth films of Ni-Re-P (Re=Ce, Nd) by electrodeposition from an aqueous bath

Rare-earth Ni-Re-P (Re=Ce, Nd) films were prepared by electrodeposition from an aqueous bath using citric acid as a complexing agent on copper substrates. It was found that the percentage of rare earth was as high as 30 wt.%, the structure of all films was amorphous, and the glass temperature of all the films was about 385 °C. The crystallization activation energy of these amorphous films was determined by differential thermal analysis (DTA). The regularity of the amorphous film formation was studied by plotting the two-dimensional Miedema's coordinates Δϕ* and Δnws−1/3 and the three-dimensional chemical coordinates with the size factor ΔR/RA added. The means of realizing the deposition of rare-earth films from aqueous bath by electrodeposition is discussed.