Conductivities of AlCl3/Ionic Liquid Systems and Their Application in Electrodeposition of Aluminium

Solubilities and conductivities of anhydrous AlCl3 in six kinds of ionic liquids (ILs) were measured. Among the six kinds of ILs [bmim]Cl, [bmim]Br, [bmim]BF4, [bmim]PF6, [emim][EtSO4] and [bmim][HSO4], anhydrous AlCl3 could be dissolved in the first five kinds but was hardly dissolved in [bmim][HSO4]. The results showed that the nominal solubilities of AlCl3 in ILs increased in the order of [bmim][HSO4] < [bmim]PF6 < [emim][EtSO4] < [bmim]BF4 < [bmim]Cl < [bmim]Br. Conductivities of the AlCl3/ILs systems depended apparently on the nominal molar ratio of AlCl3 to ILs. The conductivities of AlCl3/[bmim]Cl, AlCl3/[bmim]Br and AlCl3/[bmim]PF6 systems had a similar tendency as a function of the nominal molar ratio, that is, as the molar ratio was increased, conductivities increased first and then decreased, with the maximum conductivity obtained at approximately 0.9:1, 1.0:1 and 0.5:1, respectively. Conductivities of the AlCl3/[bmim]BF4 exhibited a dentate change and decreased with the molar ratio of AlCl3 to [bmim]BF4 increasing in general. With the increasing of the anhydrous AlCl3 amount in [emim][EtSO4], conductivity of AlCl3/[emim][EtSO4] monotonically decreased. AlCl3/[bmim]Cl system was chosen as the electrolyte for the electrodeposition of Al. Preliminary experimental results showed that dense, adherent and homogeneous Al coatings could be electrodeposited on stainless steel by means of constant potential technique and the surface coverage was quite satisfactory.