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Challenges in the electrochemical coating of high-strength steel screws by aluminum in an acidic ionic liquid composed of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and AlCl3

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Abstract

In this paper we show that screws made of high-strength steel (12.9 grade) can, in principle, be electrochemically coated with up to 40-μm-thick Al layers in an ionic liquid composed of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and AlCl3 (40/60 mol%). The main challenge for the adhesive deposition of Al is a thorough purification and pretreatment of the screws prior to Al deposition. It is shown that a combination of degreasing, etching, plasma treatment, and electrochemical etching in the ionic liquid is a prerequisite for an adhesive and well protecting Al layer. Even then it can happen that at some sites Al does not adhere sufficiently well. A proper posttreatment is essential, too, and we show that the ionic liquid must be removed with another ionic liquid prior to a chemical passivation in boiling distilled water to get a high layer quality.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Barbara Holly, Silvia Löffelholz, and Rüdiger Krosch for technical support. Financial support by Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (www.dbu.de) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Electrochemistry, Clausthal University of Technology, Arnold-Sommerfeld-Strasse 6, 38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

    Sherif Zein El Abedin & F. Endres

  2. Electrochemistry and Corrosion Laboratory, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt

    Sherif Zein El Abedin

Authors
  1. Sherif Zein El Abedin
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  2. F. Endres
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Correspondence to F. Endres.

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Zein El Abedin, S., Endres, F. Challenges in the electrochemical coating of high-strength steel screws by aluminum in an acidic ionic liquid composed of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and AlCl3 . J Solid State Electrochem 17, 1127–1132 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-012-1973-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-012-1973-3

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