Electroplating of Amorphous Aluminum-Manganese Alloy from Molten Salts

Although molten salt electroplating presents an innovative method for developing new pre-coated steels, there has been little commercial exploitation because of powdery and/or dendritic deposits. In this study, the electroplating of Al-based metals, especially Al-Mn alloy on steel sheets from AlCl3-NaCl-KCl molten salt electrolyte is focused. High speed fluid flow of molten salts and co-deposition of Mn with Al were found to be most effective to generate smooth-faced Al-based deposits at high current density. It is of great interest that Al-Mn alloy deposits with amorphous structure exhibited ultra-smooth lustrous appearance.