Abstract
The electrodeposition of Al on Cu was conducted from a bath consisting of AlBr3 and a mixture of m-xylene and ethylbenzene. The optimum bath composition and plating conditions were determined on the basis of the surface appearance of deposit, cathodic current efficiency and electrolyte conductance as follows: m-xylene/ethylbenzene=4 (vol. ratio), AlBr32-2.5mol/l, bath temperature 15-25°C and cathodic current density 1-2A/dm2. Silver white and adhesive deposits without dendrites were obtained after pre-electrolysis of 3A·h/l under the above conditions at cathodic current efficiencies of more than 80% and at anode efficiencies approaching 100%. The small differences in the reversible potentials between Al and various metals found in the aromatic hydrocarbon electrolyte indicate that this organic solvent system should be useful for Al alloy deposition.
