ELECTRODEPOSITION OF CO-AL ALLOYS OF DIFFERENT COMPOSITION FROM THE ALCL3-BPC-COCL2 ROOM-TEMPERATURE MOLTEN-SALT

Cobalt-aluminum alloys of different composition (up to 60 at.% Al) wer e electrodeposited onto copper cathode by the pulse current method fro m 2:1 (mole ratio) aluminum chloride-N-(n-butyl)pyridinium chloride (B PC) melt saturated with cobalt(II) chloride at room temperature. The o verall cathodic reaction of cobalt(II) ions in the CoCl2 saturated 2:1 AlCl3-BPC melt is Co2+ + 2e(-) --> Co, and the deposition reaction me chanisms were discussed. The magnetic properties of the deposited Co-A l alloys have been investigated. The magnetic polarization of the Co-A l alloys at high fields decreases with the increase in aluminum conten t and with the formation of nonferromagnetic phases, such as intermeta llic compounds, in the deposited layers. The cathodic current efficien cy for the alloy deposition was about 98%. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science L td.