Abstract: The electrodeposition of copper from a solution containing copper chloride in either an ethylene glycol (EG)-choline chloride based or a urea-choline chloride based ionic liquid has been carried out onto a steel cathode by constant current and constant potential methods at room temperature. The influences of various experimental conditions on electrodeposition and the morphology of the deposited layers have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It is shown that very smooth, shiny and dense with good adherence and bright metallic coloured copper coatings can be obtained from both EG and urea based ionic liquids at the applied deposition potentials up to -0.45 V and applied deposition current densities up to -4.0 A·m^-2 at room temperature. The cathodic current efficiency for the deposition of copper is about 97%.

Key words: electrodeposition, ethaline, reline, copper, cyclic voltammetry