Quantitative Analysis of Electrodeposit on Steel by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

A method was developed for quantitative analysis of electrodeposits on steels by using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry. The technique was based on calibration curve method. The sputtered depth was estimated considering the variation of the sputter rate with the composition of alloys.
Linear calibration curves were obtained for Zn-Fe and Fe-Ni alloy electrodeposits. This fact indicated that the matrix effect was negligible for these alloy electrodeposits. The calibration curve obtained for the Fe-Ni alloy electrodeposits coincided well with that obtained for the ISIJ Fe-Ni reference samples made for fluorescence X-ray spectrometry. Remarkable variation of the sputter rate with Zn concentration was observed for the Zn-Fe alloy electrodeposits, while the sputter rate for the Fe-Ni alloy electrodeposits was almost constant. The total coated weight was obtained by accumulating the depth sputtered during each measuring period from the surface to the interface.