Logistic Model of Ligand Selection for Chromium-Plating Electrolytes Based on Cr(III) Complexes

The effect of the ligand nature in chromium(III) complexes on chromium electrodeposition was studied. The predicting logistic model of ligand selection for chromium-plating electrolytes was constructed from experimental data. It was found that high-quality chromium coatings can be deposited from electrolytes of chromium(III) complexes with a ligand having the following acid–basic characteristics in the protonated form: pK ₁ < 4.0 and 4.0 < pK _n < 18.6. The proposed model was verified experimentally and used to prepare a chromium-plating electrolyte based on a chromium(III) malonate complex, which gives high-quality chromium coatings over a wide current density range.