A novel viewpoint of an imidazole derivative ionic liquid as an additive for cobalt and nickel electrodeposition

Thin films of Co and Ni electroplated onto a copper electrode from acidic sulfate and Watts baths, respectively, were investigated. The use of an ionic liquid additive in the electrolyte is widespread for producing thin films by electrodeposition. In the present work, the influence of a new ionic liquid, namely, 1-methyl-3-((2-oxo-2-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)amino)ethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium iodide (Im-IL), in the electrodeposition of two metals was investigated using cathodic polarization (CP), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and anodic linear stripping voltammetry (ALSV) measurements and cathodic current efficiency (CCE%). The surface morphology of the Co- and Ni-coated samples was examined using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The corrosion protection of the Co and Ni samples in a marine environment (3.5% NaCl solution) was studied by the potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The results show that the addition of Im-IL inhibits Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ deposition, which leads to more fine-grained deposits, especially at low Im-IL concentrations. The inhibition of Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ reduction in the presence of Im-IL ions occurs via adsorption, which obeys the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The CCE% is higher in the presence of Im-IL. SEM images show smoother deposits of Co and Ni in 1 × 10^-5 M and 1 × 10^-4 M Im-IL solution respectively. The results prove that Im-IL acts as an efficient additive for electroplating soft Co and Ni films.