Electrodeposition of zinc + cobalt alloys.: Relation between the electrochemical response and the composition and morphology of the deposits

The electrodeposition of cobalt and zinc + cobalt alloy in aqueous chloride solution has been studied on vitreous carbon electrodes under different concentration conditions (total concentration of metallic ion 0.1 mol dm ⁻³, chloride ion 1 mol dm ⁻³, pH = 3), particularly during the initial stages of the deposition process. For the alloy a relation has been found between the shape of the current-time transients, the morphology of the deposits, the stripping analysis and the results of X-ray microanalysis. The different alloy phases present in the deposits were identified using X-ray microanalysis data, stripping voltammetry results and literature data.The results indicate that the electrocrystallization of cobalt is inhibited even at very low concentrations of zinc in solution: voltammetric and galvanostatic results indicate that the deposition potentials always correspond to more negative values than those for cobalt deposition. This inhibition depends strongly on both the metallic ion ratio in solution and the applied overpotential (or current density). For Zn(II)/Co(II) ratios greater than 1/9, low overpotentials (or low current densities) favoured homogeneous and compact deposits that were rich in zinc and were mainly composed of γ-phases of zinc + cobalt alloy. However, when high overpotentials or current densities were used and/or when the Zn(II)/Co(II) ratio was very low (< 1/9), dendritic and non-homogeneous cobalt-rich deposits were obtained.