Electrochemical alloying of immiscible Ag and Co for their structural and magnetic analyses

Highlights: • Ag-Co alloy has been prepared using pulsed electrodeposition method. • Wide range of Ag composition in the alloy was obtained. • XPS measurement evident the Ag and Co in metallic nature. • The electrodeposition method develop dendrite like morphology. • Detailed analysis of magnetic behaviour is carried out. - Abstract: Electrochemical alloying of immiscible Ag and Co was carried out at different current densities from electrolytes of two different concentrations, after optimizing the electrolytic bath and operating conditions. The samples obtained were characterized using X-ray diffraction to confirm the simultaneous deposition of Ag and Co and to determine their crystallographic structure. The atomic percentage of Ag and Co contents in the granular alloy was determined by ICP-OES analysis. The XPS spectra were observed to confirm the presence of Ag and Co in the metallic form in the granular alloy samples. The micrographs observed using scanning and transmission electron microscopes threw light on the surface morphology and the size of the particles. The magnetic nature of the samples was analyzed at room temperature by a vibration sample magnetometer. Their magnetic phase transition while heating was also studied to provide further evidence for the magnetic behaviour and the structure of the deposits.