Laser assisted electrodeposition of binary metallic alloys from water-based electrolytes: The case of palladium‑platinum

The present work investigates the applicability of laser assisted electrodeposition (LAE) to the plating of binary metallic alloys from aqueous solutions and in absence of any external polarization. PdPt was chosen as proto-typical system and the deposition was carried out from phosphate-based electrolytes. The effect of electrolyte formulation and laser parameters on the composition, thickness and physical properties of the alloys was studied. In order to provide more insight on the LAE deposition process of alloys, the electrochemical properties of the electrolytes employed were correlated with the properties of the materials obtained. In analogy with standard alloy plating processes, a clear link between the currents observed for the reduction of the two single metals and the composition/thickness of the coated PdPt layers could be established. Compositionally tunable and continuous PdPt coatings were obtained and their chemical, morphological and mechanical properties were determined. Finally, the possibility to selectively deposit the PdPt alloy was demonstrated by patterning a complex figure.