Electrodeposition of Crystalline Aluminium on Carbon Steel in Aluminium Chloride — Trimethylphenyl Ammonium Chloride Ionic Liquid

Abstract

Aluminium electrodeposition on carbon steel is performed potentiostatically and galvanostatically from aluminium chloride — trimethylphenylammonium chloride room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL). The influence of the electrochemical parameters and temperature on the coating composition, morphology and corrosion resistance is studied. For each experimental condition, the coatings are composed of metallic crystalline aluminium, contain a small amount of chlorine and a few RTIL cations remain weakly adsorbed on their surface. It is shown that temperature increase favors the growth of aluminium coating but to the detriment of the nucleation and well covering coatings. The galvanostatically formed coatings at low temperature present a corrosion resistance close to that of aluminium.