Electroplated Fe-Co-Ni films prepared from deep-eutectic-solvent-based plating baths

Abstract

We fabricated soft magnetic films from DES-based plating baths, and investigated magnetic properties of the plated films. The plating baths were obtained by stirring the mixture of choline chloride, ethylene glycol, FeCl2 ⋅ 4H2O, NiCl2 ⋅ 6H2O and CoCl2 ⋅ 6H2O. The composition of the electroplated film depended on the amount of the reagent in the plating bath, and we consequently obtained the films with various composition. The current efficiency of the plating process shows high values (> 88 %) in the wide composition range. The soft magnetic films with low coercivity were obtained at the Fe compositions of ≈ 30 at.% and > 80 at.%, and we found that low coercivity could be realized by the control of the film composition. We also found that the Fe-rich films prepared from DES-based plating bath have some advantages as a soft magnetic phase for a nanocomposite magnet due to their high saturation magnetization and very fine crystal structure.