This grant in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program supports the research efforts of Professor Hussey and his graduate students on the electrodeposition of alloys from room-temperature, chloroaluminate molten salts. The deposition process will be characterized using electrochemical methods, scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. Through these studies, the attendant nucleation mechanisms for thin film growth will be characterized. Professor Hussey will collaborate with Dr. Gery Stafford at the National Institute of Standards and Technology on the metallurgical aspects of this research. This work is focussed on the synthesis and characterization of novel thin films of metal alloys that could provide materials with enhanced properties for a variety of technological applications. These films are produced by the electrodeposition of metals from aluminum containing salts that are liquids at room temperature. This approach should result in alloy films with a much lower degree of contamination than was previously possible to achieve.
