Mapping of magnetic and mechanical properties of Fe-W alloys electrodeposited from Fe(III)-based glycolate-citrate bath

© 2017 The Authors Electrodeposition of Fe-W coatings has been carried out from an environmentally friendly Fe(III)-based glycolate-citrate bath. Samples with tungsten content from 6 to 25 at.% were electrodeposited in a controlled way by changing electrodeposition parameters: current density, pH, and temperature. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the structure of Fe-W coatings transforms from nanocrystalline to amorphous-like as the W content increases and the crystallite size reduces below 10 nm. However, the peculiarities of the structural transitions are linked not only with the W content. Deposition temperature plays a crucial role, due to the different activation energy of crystallization. Following the direct Hall–Petch relation, a maximum hardness of ~ 10 GPa was found for the alloy with the highest W content, making it comparable to that of electrolytic chromium. The Fe2W intermetallic compound forms at higher W concentration as proven by Mössbauer spectroscopy, and contributes to the increased hardness of these alloys. The alloys retain a soft magnetic character within a wide compositional range, although increasing the W content leads to a reduction of the saturation magnetization. Fe-12 at.% W coatings show an optimum combination of mechanical and magnetic properties, thus making these newly developed coatings appealing environmentally-friendly alternative materials for multi-scale technologies.