Abstract
An aluminum deposit oriented to a specific face is obtained from Lewis acidic aluminum chloride (AlCl3) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIC) ambient-temperature molten salt. We tried to stably produce the oriented deposit with a flat and smooth surface from the AlCl3-EMIC melt with xylene isomers added. Study of aluminum deposition from the xylene-added bath made it possible to investigate the mechanism of the oriented deposition.
Aluminum oriented to (110) was electrodeposited from the acidic melt with o-, p-xylene added. On the other hand, aluminum oriented to (100), which has never been obtained, was deposited from the melt with 50mol% m-xylene added after being aged four hours from the bath preparation. Moreover, the deposit had metallic luster. Using SEM, tried to find out the relation between the orientation and the metallic luster. The deposit with metallic luster had a very flat surface. The deposit without metallic luster had a textural structure. Furthermore, we observed the initial state of the deposit by the AFM technique. Prior nucleation took place in the case of the metallic deposit oriented to (100). Prior crystal grain growth took place in the case of the nonmetallic deposit oriented to (110).
