Electrodepositing Ir Film at Constant Current in NaCl-KCl Molten Salts

In this study, the dense and well-integrated Ir films were electrodeposited on Pt substrate at a constant current process in the NaCl-KCl molten salt system containing IrCl3. The morphology and constitution of the Ir films at different process conditions were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscope (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. The results showed that IrCl3 concentration had significantly influenced the surface morphology of the Ir film. The particles of the deposition film surface became lager with increasing the fraction of IrCl3 and gradually decreased with increasing the temperature. However, the film quality decreased due to the formation of some tiny holes when further increasing the temperature. The particle size decreased gradually with the increase of deposition current density. The addition of CsCl could not only reduce the molten salt temperature but also increase the deposition rate of Ir.