Effect of Zincate Treatment Time on Dissolution Behavior and Deposition of Copper on AZ31 Mg alloy in Pyrophosphate Bath

The present study investigated the effect of zincate treatment time on the dissolution behavior and the deposition of copper by immersion process and electroplating process on AZ31 Mg alloy substrate in a copper pyrophosphate bath. Without zincate pretreatment, the AZ31 Mg substrate quickly dissolved in the copper pyrophosphate solution although an external cathodic current was applied. The copper layers deposited on non-zincate treated AZ31 Mg alloy substrate by both immersion and electroplating processes showed very porous structure and very poor adhesion. With increasing zincate treatment time up to 2 min, the dissolution of AZ31 substrate in pyrophosphate solution rapidly decreased and the deposited copper layer was less porous and exhibited stronger adhesion. The immersion of AZ31 Mg sample in zincate solution for 5 min was found as a critical time for producing a non-porous and adherent electrodeposited copper layer on AZ31 Mg alloy. The optimum zincating time can be determined by observing the open circuit potential (OCP) of AZ31 Mg alloy samples in a copper pyrophosphate electroplating bath. The OCP reached a stable value of about -0.10 V (vs. SCE) after 5 min of immersion in the copper pyrophosphate electroplating solution.