Mössbauer and X-ray Diffraction Investigations of Sn-containing Binary and Ternary Electrodeposited Alloys from a Gluconate Bath

Abstract

Constant current technique was applied to electrodeposit tin‐containing coatings such as tin‐cobalt (Sn‐Co), tin‐iron (Sn‐Fe) and a novel tin‐cobalt‐iron (Sn‐Co‐Fe) from a gluconate bath. The effect of plating parameters (current density, deposition time at an electrolyte temperature of 60°C and pH=7.0) on phase composition, crystal structure and magnetic anisotropy of alloy deposits has been investigated mainly by 57Fe CEMS, 119Sn CEMS and transmission Mossbauer Spectroscopy as well as XRD. 57Fe and 119Sn CEM spectra and XRD reflect that the dominant phases of the deposits are orthorhombic Co3Sn2, tetragonal FeSn2 or amorphous Fe‐Sn and amorphous Sn‐Co‐Fe in Sn‐Co, Sn‐Fe and Sn‐Co‐Fe coatings, respectively. Furthermore, the relative area of the 2nd and 5th lines of the sextets representing the magnetic iron containing phases decreases continuously with increasing current density in all Fe‐containing deposits. At the same time, no essential change in the magnetic anisotropy can be found with the plating t...