Electrodeposition of iron (Fe) was investigated in three different media: namely, a hydrophilic ionic liquid (IL), 1-ethyl-3-methylimmidazolium trifluoromethanesulphonate, conventional reverse microemulsion (RME)/reverse micellar solution, and IL based reverse microemulsion of a non-ionic surfactant, Triton X-100 with a view to achieving control over size, shape, and morphology of the electrodeposited iron. Electrochemical behavior of Fe2+ was studied using cyclic voltammetric technique with a copper electrode as the working electrode. Electrochemical reduction of Fe2+ in all the studied media was found to be an electrochemically irreversible, diffusion-controlled process. Successful potentiostatic electrodeposition of metallic iron was performed in all the studied media on copper substrate using bulk electrolysis method. The obtained iron electrodeposits were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an x-ray diffractometer (XRD). The controlled diffusion of Fe2+ towards electrode surface in all the media resulted in the formation of nanoparticles of iron, but compact layers of granular nanoparticles could be achieved from both the conventional and IL based RME systems. The IL based microemulsions synergistically combined the advantageous features of both the IL and RME and showed the prospect of tuning the size, shape, and morphology of the electrodeposited iron.

Funding provided by: University Grants Commission of BangladeshROR ID: https://ror.org/04jtt0w10Award Number: Funding provided by: University of DhakaROR ID: https://ror.org/05wv2vq37Award Number:

Measurements using an Electrochemical Workstation Processed using SigmaPlot 11 and converted to CSV