AUTHOR=Wei Jei C., Schwartz Morton , Nobe Ken , Myung Nosang V.

TITLE=Aqueous Electrodeposition of SmCo Alloys: II. Direct Current Studies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.694726

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.694726

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>Previously, we reported the aqueous electrodeposition of rare earth - iron group alloys. A key factor was the complexation of the metal ions with various coordination compounds (<italic>e.g.,</italic> aminoacetic acids), without which only the ferrous metal and rare earth hydroxides/oxides are deposited. In this work, samarium cobalt (SmCo) alloys were synthesized using direct current (DC) aqueous electrodeposition. The basic electrolyte solution consisted of 1 M samarium sulfamate, 0.05 M cobalt sulfate, and 0.15 M glycine, resulting in deposits containing &gt;30 at% Sm at 60°C with current density of 500 mA/cm<sup>2</sup>. Supporting electrolytes (<italic>i.e.,</italic> ammonium salts) decreased the Sm content in the deposit. Crystallinity of deposited films altered from nanocrystalline to amorphous as the Sm content increased. Deposits with high Sm content (32 at%) became isotropic with reduction in magnetic saturation (M<sub>s</sub>) and coercivity (H<sub>c</sub>). A deposition mechanism involving stepwise reduction of the complexed Sm-Co ions by depositing hydrogen atoms was proposed.</p>