Electrodeposition of cobalt from aqueous sulphate solutions in the presence of tetra ethyl ammonium bromide

Abstract

The effect of tetra ethyl ammonium bromide (TEAB) as an additive on the structural, morphological characteristics of the cobalt metal produced from aqueous sulphate solutions was investigated. The concentration of TEAB was varied in a range of 1–50 mg/L to evaluate its effect on current efficiency, energy consumption and quality of electrodeposited cobalt metal. Smooth and bright deposits of cobalt were obtained at low concentration of TEAB (10 mg/L) maintaining a current efficiency of 99.6%, with a low energy consumption of 2.38 kW·h/kg. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that (100) plane is the most preferred plane of crystal growth during cobalt electrodeposition. Scanning electron micrographs indicate that smooth and uniform deposit of cobalt is obtained at 10 mg/L beyond which the deposit quality deteriorates. Cyclic voltammetric studies indicate that the presence of TEAB in the electrolytic bath polarizes the cathode and decreases the cathodic current considerably. XPS results confirm the electrodeposition of high pure cobalt with no sign of chemical bonding with TEAB as evident from the FTIR spectra.