Electrodeposition of lead from acetate electrolyte containing additives

The electrodeposition of lead on to steel substrates from acidic acetate electrolyte containing hexadecyl pyridinium bromide (HDPB) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) has been investigated. In the acetate electrolyte containing a combination of HDPB and SDS, lead of good quality can be deposited. The optimum operating conditions necessary to produce a highly adherent lead deposit have been found to be: pH=5.0, j=0.33 A dm(-2), T=25degreesC and time=10 min. The optimum bath has a throlving power of 19.5% which is relatively high compared with that reported for Pb electrodeposited from sulphamate and fluoroborate baths. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the Ph deposited from the acetate both is pure and the surface morphology of the deposit shows that the lead deposited from the optimum bath is compact, non-porous and composed of fine-grains covering the entire surface.