Electrochemical Deposition of Co under the Influence of High Magnetic Fields

Abstract

The effect of uniform, vertically oriented high magnetic fields up to on the electrodeposition of Co has been investigated in dependence on the cell and electrode geometry as well as the orientation and strength of the magnetic flux density by means of cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometric measurements, and atomic force microscopy investigations. In the majority of cases, the limiting current density increases with increasing magnetic flux densities independent of the cell geometry and orientation. The current efficiency of Co increases with increasing magnetic flux densities only in magnetic fields aligned parallel to the electrodes due to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect. The morphology of the deposits exhibits randomly oriented round-shaped grains. The electrochemical behavior of horizontal electrodes with magnetic fields oriented perpendicular to the surface is strongly dependent on the electrode geometry. The current efficiency of the Co deposition on flat electrodes increases for low magnetic flux densities and keeps constant for high magnetic fields. In contrast, for wall electrodes the current efficiency decreases strongly even for low magnetic fields. These results are caused by overlapping effects of two types of convection, macro-MHD- and micro-magneto convection due to gradients of the concentration and the magnetic susceptibility. This leads to a modified morphology.