Preparation of aluminum-tin alloy by electrodeposition in low-temperature molten salt system

Abstract

AlCl₃-NaCl-KCl low-temperature molten salt system with anhydrous SnCl₂ was used to study the preparation of Al-Sn alloy by electrodeposition. The morphology and composition of the alloy were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD); The corrosion resistance, wear resistance and antifriction of the alloy were tested and analyzed respectively by polarization curve method and wear and friction experiment; The hardnesses of the alloy and the film substrate adhesion were characterized respectively by Vickers hardness tester and automatic scratch tester for coating adhesion. The results showed that when the SnCl₂ content in the electrolyte was 0.04–0.08 g, a medium tin-aluminum alloy with tin content of 10%–18% could be prepared. The optimum deposition temperature was 160–200 °C, the deposition time was 40–50 min, and the current density was 40–50 mA/cm². With the increase of tin content in the coating, its corrosion resistance gradually became worse and the friction and wear resistance showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. When the SnCl₂ content was 0.06 g, the tin content in the coating was 14 wt%, the friction and wear resistance were the best. With the increase of the deposition temperature, the film substrate adhesion and hardness of the alloy coating showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. When the deposition temperature was 200 °C, the best adhesion and hardness were obtained.

Keywords

aluminum-tin alloy / low-temperature molten salt system / electrodeposition / corrosion resistance / wear resistance and antifriction performance

References

[1] BelovN A, AkopyanT K, GershmanI S, et al. . Effect of Si and Cu additions on the phase composition, microstructure and properties of Al-Sn alloys. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2017, 695: 2730-2739 J]

[2] BertelliF, CheungN, FerreiraI L, et al. . Evaluation of thermophysical properties of Al-Sn-Si alloys based on computational thermodynamics and validation by numerical and experimental simulation of solidification. The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, 2016, 98: 9-20 J]

[3] LiuH X, WangC P, YuY, et al. . Experimental investigation and thermodynamic calculation of the phase equilibria in the Al-Bi-Sn ternary system. Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion, 2012, 33(1): 9-19 J]

[4] RosalesI, Gonzalez-rodriguezG, GamaJ L, et al. . Bismuth effect on the mechanical properties of antifriction Al-Sn alloys. Materials Sciences and Applications, 2014, 5(5): 330-337 J]

[5] SethuramD, KoppadP G, ShettyH, et al. . Characterization of graphene reinforced Al-Sn nanocomposite produced by mechanical alloying and vacuum hot pressing. Materials Today: Proceedings, 2018, 5(11): 24505-24514[J]

[6] BhatJ, Satyanarayan. Effect of cooling medium on microstructure, impact and hardness properties of Al-15Sn alloy. Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals, 2019, 72(7): 1941-1947 J]

[7] ChikovaO A, KonstantinovA N, ShishkinaE V, et al. . Nanoindentation study of the effect of the structural state of the melt on the crystal structure and mechanical properties of the phases in an Al-50 wt % Sn alloy. Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2013, 2013(7): 535-544 J]

[8] RusinN M, IvanovK V. Features of plastic flow of Powder Al-40Sn alloy during extrusion. Russian Journal of Non-Ferrous Metals, 2011, 52(6): 504-510 J]

[9] RusinN M, SkorentsevA L, KolubaevE A. Effect of equal channel angular pressing on mechanical and tribological properties of sintered Al-Sn composites. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2020, 29(3): 1955-1963 J]

[10] BakJ H, ChoD H, ShinS, et al. . Wear properties of hybrid ABO+BN+CNT/Al-Sn alloy matrix composites for engine bearing materials. Metals and Materials International, 2018, 24(1): 205-215 J]

[11] RusinN M, SkorentsevA L. Improving the tribological properties of self-lubricating Al-Sn alloys by their severe plastic processing. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 2013, 379: 110-114 J]

[12] RamadanM, AyadiB, RajhiW, et al. . Influence of tinning material on interfacial microstructures and mechanical properties of Al₁₂Sn₄Si₁Cu/carbon steel bimetallic castings for bearing applications. Key Engineering Materials, 2020, 835: 108-114 J]

[13] XuG-m, LiB-m, CuiJ-zhong. Effect of heat treatment on microstructure and property of Al-Sn-Pb bearing material. Journal of Iron and Steel Research International, 2006, 13(2): 73-76 J]

[14] LiuX, ZengM Q, MaY, et al. . Melting behavior and the correlation of Sn distribution on hardness in a nanostructured Al-Sn alloy. Materials Science and Engineering A, 2009, 506(1-2): 1-7 J]

[15] LiuX, ZengM Q, MaY, et al. . Promoting the high load-carrying capability of Al-20 wt% Sn bearing alloys through creating nanocomposite structure by mechanical alloying. Wear, 2012, 294–295: 387-394 J]

[16] ZhangY, ZhangP-g, HeW, et al. . Tin whisker growth on immiscible Al - Sn alloy. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 2020, 31(2): 1328-1334[J]

[17] GuoQ-q, JiangB-l, LiJ-ping. Effect of target current on corrosion resistance of AlSn20/C coating deposited by magnetron sputtering. The Chinese Journal of Nonferrous Metals, 2012, 22(8): 2289-2294[J]

[18] GuoQ-q, LiJ-ping. Influence of target current on the microstructure and properties of the antifriction composite coatings prepared by magnetron sputtering. Journal of Xi’an Technological University, 2016, 36(6): 481-484[J]

[19] GuoQ-q, JiangB-l, LiJ-p, et al. . Effects of substrate bias voltage on morphologies and properties of Al-20Sn coating deposited by non-equilibrium magnetron sputtering. Special Casting & Nonferrous Alloys, 2011, 31(4): 308-310[J]

[20] YuD-r, JiangQ, ZhouX-ying. Electrochemical corrosion resistance of Al-Sn-Cu coatings. Corrosion & Protection, 2012, 33(11): 952-954[J]

[21] SongH, LiuZ-y, TangW-h, et al. . Effect of deposition parameter on properties of AlSn20Cu coating prepared by magnetron sputtering. Ordnance Material Science and Engineering, 2017, 40(6): 26-29[J]

[22] LiuY-h, LiuX-j, ChenX-r, et al. . Hydrogen generation from hydrolysis of activated Al-Bi, Al-Sn Powders prepared by gas atomization method. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2017, 42(16): 10943-10951 J]

[23] AnilM, BalajiS, UpadhyayaA, et al. . Potentiodynamic polarization aspects of the as-cast and sprayed Al-Si, Al-Sn and Al-Sn-Si alloys in a sodium chloride solution. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2010, 19(9): 1357-1361 J]

[24] SunM-l, LongX-p, DongM-y, et al. . Mitigation of tin whisker growth by inserting Ni nanocones. Materials Characterization, 2017, 134: 354-361 J]

[25] HuangC M, NunezD, CoburnJ, et al. . Risk of tin whiskers in the nuclear industry. Microelectronics Reliability, 2018, 81: 22-30 J]

[26] LiB, FanC-h, ChenY, et al. . Pulse current electrodeposition of Al from an AlCl₃-EMIC ionic liquid. Electrochimica Acta, 2011, 56(16): 5478-5482 J]

[27] WangX-h, YangZ-h, LiW-x, et al. . Effect of dual-pulses on Al-Mn alloy coatings on iron electrodeposited with a low temperature molten salt bath. Corrosion Science and Protection Technology, 2009, 21(6): 541-544[J]

[28] LiN, ZhangL, XuM-t, et al. . Preparation and mechanical property of electrodeposited Al-graphene composite coating. Materials & Design, 2016, 111: 522-527 J]

[29] TsudaT, HusseyC L, StaffordG R. Electrodeposition of Al-Mo-Mn ternary alloys from the Lewis acidic AlCl₃-EtMeImCl molten salt. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2005, 152(9): C620 J]

[30] YueG-k, ZhangS-j, ZhuY-l, et al. . A promising method for electrodeposition of aluminium on stainless steel in ionic liquid. AIChE Journal, 2009, 553783-796 J]

[31] PradhanD, ReddyR G. Electrochemical production of Ti-Al alloys using TiCl₄-AlCl₃-1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride (BmimCl) electrolytes. Electrochimica Acta, 2009, 54(6): 1874-1880 J]

[32] YueG-k, LuX-m, ZhuY-l, et al. . Conductivities of AlCl₃/ionic liquid systems and their application in electrodeposition of aluminium. The Chinese Journal of Process Engineering, 2008, 8(4): 814-819[J]

[33] TatipartiS S V, EbrahimiF. Substrate effect on electrodeposited nanocrystalline Al-Mg alloy powders. Materials Letters, 2011, 65(12): 1859-1861 J]

[34] SuneeshP V, Satheesh BabuT G, RamachandranT. Electrodeposition of aluminium and aluminium-copper alloys from a room temperature ionic liquid electrolyte containing aluminium chloride and triethylamine hydrochloride. International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy, and Materials, 2013, 20(9): 909-916 J]

[35] YuX-g, QiuZ-xian. Preparation of Al-RE alloy by molten salt electrolysis. Chinese Rare Earths, 2006, 27(6): 33-36[J]

[36] ZhangB-g, LiJ-d, CaoW-l, et al. . Preparation of Al-Ca alloy by molten-salt electrolysis and analysis of electrode process. Nonferrous Metals (Extractive Metallurgy), 2014, 59–61(9): 65[J]

[37] TatipartiS S V, EbrahimiF. Electrodeposition of Al - Mg alloy powders. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2008, 1555D363 J]

[38] KanH-m, ZhuS-s, ZhANGN, WangX-yang. Electrodeposition of aluminum and aluminum-magnesium alloy at room temperature. Journal of Central South University, 2015, 22103689-3697 J]