Electrodeposition of iron powder particles of different characteristics

Abstract

Iron deposits obtained at high current densities and overpotentials are very important from a technological point of view. It has been stated that the open and porous structures of copper or iron deposits obtained at high current densities were ideally suited for use as electrodes in electrochemical devices such as fuel cells, batteries and chemical sensors, while the extremely high surface area is relevant for evaluating some electrochemical reactions. Mainly two types of electrolytes were investigated and these were based on sulfate and chloride electrolytes. With increasing duration of electrolysis, dendrites merge, which is unacceptable for the case of further application. These deposits must be grinded in order to obtain powders. However, in the range of lower acidity the deposits become powdery and, in some cases, may be spongy and sticky. Generally, up to now research indicates that electrodeposition of Fe powders have two steps, deposition of fragile film and grinding. It must be emphasized that we tried and succeeded to obtain Fe powders without grinding process. The aim of this work was to investigate electrodeposition processes of Fe powders from sulfate and chloride electrolytes and morphologies of powder as a function of type of electrolyte and current density.