Iron(III) chloride and acetamide eutectic for the electrodeposition of iron and iron based alloys

The electrodeposition of iron and iron-based alloys is important for a variety of coating technologies. This study demonstrates that eutectics of ferric chloride and acetamide are easily formed and a 1:4 M mixture gives a liquid at ambient temperature. This eutectic mixture has a higher conductivity resulting from a lower viscosity than comparable eutectics formed from either aluminium or zinc chloride. Ferric chloride disproportionates to form both anionic and cationic iron containing species and these were identified using a variety of spectroscopic methods. The electrodeposition of iron and iron-nickel alloys was demonstrated and it was shown that the iron-nickel alloys demonstrated improved anti-corrosion properties.