Grain refinement in electrogalvanized coatings

The effects of grain-refining additives on the morphology and surface roughness of zinc deposits plated at 80 A/dm2 is presented. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show zinc deposits plated without additives are rough and are not of commercial quality. The addition of a suppressor compound and a grain refiner reduces the grain size and surface roughness. Increased concentration of the grain refiner results in a further reduction of the surface roughness, the width and height of the zinc grains. AFM is a convenient way to monitor the changes in zinc morphology with additive concentrations.