Coating of aluminum substrates with nanostructured Pd–Ni alloys by electrodeposition

Pd–Ni alloys are electrodeposited onto low-purity aluminum substrates varying both the composition of the feeding solution and the applied electrodeposition potential. It is found that the initial nucleation-and-growth mechanism in every case is well described by a 3D-type nucleation process. The resulting deposits consist of Pd–Ni alloys of different compositions, all electrocrystallized in a disordered fcc phase; depending on the electrodeposition parameters, different morphologies and compositions are obtained. It is found that when the electrodeposition potential is high and the Pd content in the feeding solution is low, the substrate coating is more efficient and the deposit morphology tends to refine into dendritic-like structures, making this kind of deposit quite interesting for using as electrodes in electrochemical devices. Room temperature magnetic measurements indicate that the samples are soft ferromagnetic with negligible demagnetizing effects. Dendritic and spheroidal-like Pd-rich deposits exhibit larger remanence values and are more coercive than those with higher Ni content due to the dependence of the anisotropy constant on the alloy composition. [Display omitted] •Pd–Ni disordered alloys were dc-electrodeposited onto low-purity Al substrates.•Electrodeposition potential and the electrolyte composition control morphology.•Low deposition potentials and low Pd contents improve the substrate coverage.•Dendritic nanostructures are favored at lower electrodeposition potential.•Dendritic deposits provide quite large area/volume ratios.