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Aluminum electrodeposition from a non-aqueous electrolyte—a combined computational and experimental study

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Abstract

Electrodeposition of aluminum (Al) from an organic non-aqueous electrolyte of ethylbenzene containing aluminum bromide is demonstrated. It is offered as a simple method for the preparation of Al coatings. This work employs distinct electrochemical techniques and explores the effects of the experimental parameters on the kinetics of the process and the quality of the final coatings. The process presented here enables deposition of pure and crystalline Al at room temperature and facilitates the production of uniform Al coatings on various metallic substrates. Morphological studies establish that the growth of Al deposits follows an island mode, and thus, the most noteworthy effect of the substrate over the morphology of the deposits originates from its impact over the nucleation stage, and the density of islands. This study is complemented by theoretical modeling for the adsorption of Al atoms at the different surfaces. Corrosion evaluation determines the dissolution mechanisms of each of the studied substrates in the examined electrolyte. These findings further corroborate the claim that this electrolyte enables the reversible electrodeposition of Al.

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Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support from Israel Council for Higher Education (CHE) and Israel Fuel Choice Initiative, within the framework of “Israel National Research Center for Electrochemical Propulsion” (INREP) and the Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 3200003, Haifa, Israel

    Neta Yitzhack, Nina Sezin, David Starosvetsky & Yair Ein-Eli

  2. Department of Physical Electronics, Tel-Aviv University, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Polina Tereschuk & Amir Natan

  3. The Sackler Center for Computational Molecular and Materials Science, Tel-Aviv University, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Amir Natan

  4. The Nancy & Stephan Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 3200003, Haifa, Israel

    Yair Ein-Eli

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  1. Neta Yitzhack
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  2. Polina Tereschuk
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Correspondence to Yair Ein-Eli.

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Yitzhack, N., Tereschuk, P., Sezin, N. et al. Aluminum electrodeposition from a non-aqueous electrolyte—a combined computational and experimental study. J Solid State Electrochem 24, 2833–2846 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-020-04626-x

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