Behavior of Electrodeposited Fe/FeSi Composite in High Magnetic Fields

Abstract

Fe-Si composite coatings were prepared through composite electrodeposition in high magnetic fields. The results indicated the magnetic field modified the surface morphology and particle content of composite coatings significantly. Many striped structures arranged perpendicular to the direction of magnetic field on the coating surface for the Fe-Si particles with relatively high silicon content when in longitudinal electrode system, and the silicon content in the composite coatings significantly increased with the increase of magnetic field intensity. However, hill-shaped structures along with the decrease of silicon content appeared on the coating surface when in an horizontal electrode system. Further, with the increase of current density, the silicon content in composite coatings reached a maximum when at 2 A·dm−2 in the longitudinal electrode system both without and with an 8 T magnetic field, whereas that for the horizontal electrode system decreased. The modification of the surface morphology and particle content during electrodeposition under the magnetic field may be attributed to the magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) flow and gradient magnetic force(GMF).