Abstract
A systematic study was carried out to electrodeposit Ni-Co alloy coatings from a complexing acidic glycine bath on copper substrates. The effects of [Co2+]/[Ni2+] ratio, gly concentration, pH, current density and temperature on the current efficiency, Co content in the coatings and on polarization behavior were investigated. It was found that the CCE of these baths has a wide range starting from 55% up to a maximum value of 99.3%, relying on the operating parameters and the bath constituent. However, the CCE decreased from 96.2% to 84.8% when the gly content was enhanced from 25 to 150 g/L. On the other hand, the Co content in the deposit reached 97% (wt%) at [Co2+]/[Ni2+]=0.43, i= 16 mA cm(2), t=10 min, T=20 degrees C. The codeposition of Co and Ni from acidic gly baths obeys the anomalous type of codeposition. The kinetic results indicate that the Tafel slope increased in the case of alloy deposition, while both the transfer coefficient alpha(c)and the exchange current i degrees decreased. Moreover, the obtained results indicated that increasing the Co(2+)content in the electrolytic solution has an inhibiting impact on the kinetics of the nickel-cobalt alloy plating. The throwing power is enhanced with enhancing [Co2+]/[Ni2+] ratios, while the addition of gly decreases it. However, the outcomes of macrothrowing power, throwing index and Wagner numbers are in excellent accord.