Electrodeposition of nanostructured Ni(1−x)Mnx alloys films from chloride bath

NiMn alloys were electrodeposited from chloride bath with various Mn content up to 10 at.%. The effect of bath composition and current density on Mn content of electrodeposited thin films was explored. A maximum of 9.8 at.% Mn content in deposited films was obtained at optimized current density of 40 mA/cm² and MnCl₂/NiCl₂ concentration ratio of 2.5 in the bath. The morphology and crystal structure of deposits were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The constituents in the films were determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It was revealed that the structure of NiMn coatings had an average grain size of about 17 nm. It was found that the deposits exhibited FCC structure with prefer orientation of <111>. The soft magnetic properties of electrodeposited films were measured by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). It was observed that the magnetic parameters such as coercivity and saturation magnetization were decreased with increasing of Mn in the deposits.