Electrochemical deposition of titanium based layers on stainless steel substrates

Abstract

Electrochemically deposited titanium (Ti) layers have many beneficial mechanical and chemical properties. The deposition process is, however, a complex reaction network and poorly understood. In this study the electrochemical Ti deposition from ionic liquids, as electrolytes, was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry at various temperatures and Ti-precursor concentrations. Insights into the nucleation mechanism and the diffusion processes could be gained. Furthermore, different conditions for controlled electrodeposition of Ti based layers on steel substrates were explored and the resulting structures and morphologies of the obtained Ti layers were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The influence of nucleation and diffusion mechanisms and reaction conditions (temperature, Ti concentration) on the Ti layer formation were investigated. The applied Ti electrodeposition protocol in ionic liquid is especially promising due to the relatively low temperature used, i.e., 180 °C, and the possibilities to control the morphology of the deposited layer.