Electrodeposition of Aluminium-Vanadium Alloys from Chloroaluminate Based Molten Salt Containing Vanadium Ions

Abstract

The Al-V alloys were synthetized by potentiostatic electrodeposition onto a glassy carbon electrode from equimolar AlCl3 + NaCl bath containing vanadium ions at 200 °C. The alloy deposits were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The deposits were identified as Al3V and AlV3 alloys. It was found that intermetallic alloys were synthetized during aluminium underpotential deposition onto vanadium metal that was previously deposited on the glassy carbon electrode by diffusion-controlled overpotential deposition. Alloys were the result of solid-state interdiffusion between the initially deposited vanadium and the subsequently deposited aluminium. As a source to secure a constant concentration of vanadium in the electrolyte during deposition, vanadium anodic dissolution, and VCl3 melt addition were studied. The effect of vanadium ion concentration in the electrolyte on the composition and the surface morphology of the obtained deposits was investigated. The results indicate that controlled vanadium and aluminium codeposition could be a further step to the successful development of an advanced technology for Al3V and AlV3 alloy synthesis.