Electrodeposition of Cobalt from Ethylene Carbonate-AlCl3-CoCl2 Electrolyte System

Cobalt is a good material for catalysis, energy, and many other applications. In this study, a cobalt coating was prepared by applying electrodeposition in an ethylene carbonate (EC) -AlCl 3 -CoCl 2 electrolyte system at 333 K. The electrical conductivity of the 0.97EC-0.02AlCl 3 -0.01CoCl 2 system at 318–363 K varied with the temperature based on the following relation: σ  = 70.3876 – 0.4035  T  + 6.4394 × 10 −4 T 2 (µS/cm). Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry analyses showed that the electrodeposition of cobalt was an irreversible process, and controlled by diffusion. The diffusion coefficient was 1.92 × 10 −8 cm 2 /s. Cobalt coating was achieved by applying electrodeposition under different conditions at − 0.4 to − 0.7 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The cobalt coating electrodeposited at − 0.5 V for 2 h was found to be dense, with a grain size of 0.5 µm. Graphical Abstract