The invention relates to an aqueous, alkaline electrolyte for electrochemically depositing a zinc-, iron-, manganese-containing layer onto surfaces of metal piece goods, in particular piece goods made of iron and/or steel, characterized in that the electrolyte contains: zinc ions in an amount of 4-60 g/L; iron ions in an amount of 0.5-30 g/L; manganese ions in an amount of 0.1-15 g/L. The invention also relates to a method for electrochemically depositing a zinc-, iron-, manganese-containing layer onto one or more surfaces of a metal piece good. The invention also relates to a metal piece good comprising a zinc-, iron, manganese-containing layer electrochemically deposited onto a surface of the metal piece good in accordance with the inventive method.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a zinc-nickel-silica composite plating bath that has been improved in terms of: covering power for articles having a complex shape; and corrosion resistance of a low current density portion where the film thickness is small. The present invention pertains to a zinc-nickel-silica composite plating bath, the plating bath having a pH of 3.5 to 6.9, and containing zinc ions, nickel ions, colloidal silica, and chloride ions. The colloidal silica is a cationic colloidal silica having on the surface thereon at least one species of metal cation selected from the group consisting of trivalent to heptavalent metal cations.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a zinc-nickel-silica composite plating bath that has been improved in terms of: covering power for articles having a complex shape; and corrosion resistance of a low current density portion where the film thickness is small. The present invention pertains to a zinc-nickel-silica composite plating bath, the plating bath having a pH of 3.5 to 6.9, and containing zinc ions, nickel ions, colloidal silica, and chloride ions. The colloidal silica is a cationic colloidal silica having on the surface thereon at least one species of metal cation selected from the group consisting of trivalent to heptavalent metal cations.

Metastable alloys have recently emerged as high-performance catalysts, extending the toolbox of binary alloy materials that can be utilized to mediate electrocatalytic reactions. In particular, nanostructured metastable ordered intermetallic compounds are particularly challenging to synthesize. Here the present invention is directed to a method for synthesizing sub-15 nm metastable ordered intermetallic Pd31Bi12 nanoparticles at room temperature, in a single step, by pulsed electrochemical deposition onto high surface area carbon supports. The resulting Pd31Bi12 nanoparticles displays a 7× enhancement of the mass activity relative to Pt/C and a 4× enhancement relative to Pd/C for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The high performance of Pd31Bi12 nanoparticles is demonstrated to arise from reduced oxygen binding caused by alloying of Pd with Bi. The isolation of Pd-sites from each other facilitate methanol tolerant ORR behavior.

The invention relates to a corrosion protection layer system for metal surfaces, said layer system comprising as the two top most layers: a) a discontinuous nickel-phosphorus layer and b) a chromium layer plated from a trivalent chromium electrolyte solution, as well as to a method of producing such a layer system. The inventive layer system is capable to combine the good corrosion resistance of the nickel-phosphorus layer against sodium chloride with the protective power of the chromium layer from the trivalent plating process against magnesium and calcium salts, especially without the need for any post-treatment.

The present invention relates to a carrier foil-attached metal foil including a release layer having a specific composition and structure, a method of manufacturing the carrier foil-attached metal foil, and a laminate for forming a printed circuit board including the carrier foil-attached metal foil. The laminate for forming a printed circuit board according to the present invention comprises the carrier foil-attached metal foil, so that a defect rate can be minimized.

A surface-treated copper foil includes a treated surface, where the peak extreme height (Sxp) of the treating surface is 0.4 to 3.0 μm. When the surface-treated copper foil is heated at a temperature of 200° C. for 1 hour, the ratio of the integrated intensity of diffraction peak of (111) plane to the sum of the integrated intensities of diffraction peaks of (111) plane, (200) plane, and (220) plane of the treating surface is at least 60%.

A porous carbon material composite formed of a porous carbon material and a functional material and equipped with high functionality. The porous carbon material composite is formed of (A) a porous carbon material obtainable from a plant-derived material having a silicon (Si) content of 5 wt % or higher as a raw material; and (B) a functional material adhered on the porous carbon material, and has a specific surface area of 10 m.sup.2/g or greater as determined by the nitrogen BET method and a pore volume of 0.1 cm.sup.3/g or greater as determined by the BJH method and MP method.

A porous carbon material composite formed of a porous carbon material and a functional material and equipped with high functionality. The porous carbon material composite is formed of (A) a porous carbon material obtainable from a plant-derived material having a silicon (Si) content of 5 wt % or higher as a raw material; and (B) a functional material adhered on the porous carbon material, and has a specific surface area of 10 m.sup.2/g or greater as determined by the nitrogen BET method and a pore volume of 0.1 cm.sup.3/g or greater as determined by the BJH method and MP method.

A process is provided comprising submerging a substrate in an electrochemical deposit bath having at least a metal salt and saccharin. In embodiments, the film is further treated with anodization, and in other cases chemical vapor deposition. Films are also provided formed by the disclosed processes. The films are nanoporous on at least a portion of a surface of the films. Also disclosed are electronic devices having the films disclosed, including lithium-ion batteries, storage devices, supercapacitors, electrodes, semiconductors, fuel cells, and/or combinations thereof.