Electrodeposition of Al-W-Mn Alloy from Lewis Acidic AlCl3−1-Ethyl-3-Methylimidazolium Chloride Ionic Liquid

Abstract

The electrodeposition of non-equilibrium ternary Al-W-Mn alloys was investigated in the Lewis acidic 66.7-33.3 mol % aluminum chloride–1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AlCl3–[C2mim]Cl) ionic liquid (IL) with K3[W2Cl9] and MnCl2 to improve the properties of binary Al-W alloy electrodeposits. The Al-W-Mn alloys were electrochemically deposited on Cu substrates. The W content in the Al-W-Mn alloys monotonically decreased with increasing the applied current density independently of the K3[W2Cl9] and MnCl2 concentration in the IL solution. The Mn content in the ternary alloys was significantly affected by the electrodeposition condition. The XRD and EDS analyses revealed that the Al-W-Mn alloys prepared in this research have non-equilibrium solid solution and amorphous phases without chloride contamination. The surface morphology was improved by adding Mn to the Al-W alloy, and the pitting potential of the Al-W-Mn alloy surpassed that for the electrodeposited Al-W and Al-Mn binary alloy systems.