Electrodeposition of metals and their alloys using different deep eutectic solvents based on choline chloride

Abstract

Ionic liquids with discrete anions are deep eutectic solvents can be utilized formetals electroplating. In this investigation various types of deep eutecticsolvents have been utilized such as Reline, Ethaline and Hybrid as solvents forthe electrodeposition of Sn, Zn and Zn-Sn alloys. Ethaline and Reline displayedidentical voltammetric profiles for the reduction of Zn+2 and Sn+2. Relinepossess high viscosity which lead to decreasing the quality of electroplating,therefore the process needs higher temperature or longer electroplating time.The surface morphology and compositions have been characterized usingscanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analysis by energydispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX). These techniques lead to detecting themetal alloy that have been added to the ionic liquids. Pure ionic liquidspreparation was another aim of this investigation, which utilized as a standardscale for comparison with the metal based liquids. Analysis of cyclicvoltammetry in all systems indicated differences in the reactivity and mobility ofspecies in solution which affected the growth mechanism and resulted inchanges in deposit morphology.