Electrodeposition of quarternary Mg–Zn–Li–Ca alloys from molten salts

Abstract

Direct electrodeposition of quarternary Mg–Zn–Li–Ca alloys on a molybdenum electrode from LiCl–KCl–MgCl2–ZnCl2–CaCl2 melts at 943 K was investigated. Cyclic voltammograms (CVs) show that the deposition potential of Li shifts in a positive direction after adding MgCl2, ZnCl2 and CaCl2. Chronopotentiometric measurements indicate that the codepositon of Mg, Li, Zn, and Ca occurs at current densities lower than −1.55 A/cm2. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that Mg–Zn–Li–Ca alloys with different phases were prepared via galvanostatic electrolysis. The microstructures of typical phase of Mg–Zn–Li–Ca alloys were characterized by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analysis of energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) shows that elements of Mg and Ca distribute homogeneously in the Mg–Zn–Li–Ca alloy. However, element Zn mainly locates at the edges of the domain.