Aqueous electrodeposition of iron group–vanadium binary alloys

Electrodeposition of binary iron group (IG)–vanadium (V) alloys from aqueous citrate solutions was investigated. Addition of NH 3(aq.) and increasing solution pH resulted in increased deposit V content, but non-metallic deposits were obtained at solution pH > 7. Increasing current density resulted in an almost linear decrease in V content and a sharp increase in hydrogen evolution (decreased current efficiency). In general, the amount of V deposited with the IG metal increased as follows: Ni < Fe ≪ Co. XRD spectra indicated that preferred orientations from 25 °C solutions were not displaced by elevated temperature deposits. Changes in orientation may contribute to the deposit magnetic properties; e.g., Co–V deposits with (1 0 0) planes exhibit harder magnetization than deposits with (0 0 2) planes.