Electroless deposition of Fe–Ni alloys from acidic and alkaline solutions using hypophosphite as a reducing agent

The deposition of Fe–Ni alloys from acidic and alkaline solutions, using hypophosphite as a reducing agent, is studied in this work. The experimental results confirm the autocatalytic nature of this process. The composition of alloys is practically independent of the temperature deposition. Fe–Ni alloys produced from acidic solutions contained less than 1% Fe. The amount of Fe in Fe–Ni alloys produced from alkaline solutions was estimated to be about 15 %. The deposition of Fe–Ni alloys was significantly faster in the alkaline than in the acidic solutions, due to more pronounced hydrolysis of Fe(II) and Ni(II) ions under the alkaline conditions. The Fe–Ni alloys produced from both acidic and alkaline solutions contain phosphorus and as such have amorphous structure.