A comparative study on electrodeposition of Fe-W-B and Fe-Mo-B alloys

Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Sciences and Technology, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, 58109-970 Campina Grande, PB. Brazil Manuscript received 26 August 1999, revised 28 February 2000. accepted 3 March 2000 Electrodeposition processes for depositing boron-containing iron-tungsten and iron-molybdenum alloys on copper cathode from baths having ferrous sulfate, sodium tungstate (or molybdate), boron phosphate, ammonium citrate, 1-dodecylsulfate-Na and ammonia or sulfuric acid for pH adjustments have been developed. Bath stability, cathode current efficiency and quality of deposit of molybdenum alloy are more satisfactory than those of tungsten alloy. The current efficiency of tungsten alloy deposition is improved by increasing the bath temperature but no advantage of higher temperature is found for deposition of the molybdenum alloy