METHOD OF PRODUCING SILICON-PLATED METAL SHEET

1 . A method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet, comprising:

melting at least one of a silicon-containing alkali metal salt or a silicon-containing ammonium salt in a molten salt comprising lithium chloride, potassium chloride, and an alkali metal fluoride to prepare a molten-salt electrolytic bath; and

performing constant-current pulse electrolysis or constant-potential pulse electrolysis with a metal sheet, serving as a cathode, immersed in the molten-salt electrolytic bath under conditions of a pulse duration of from 0.1 seconds to 3.0 seconds and a duty ratio of from 0.5 to 0.94 to thereby form a silicon layer on the metal sheet.

2 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 , wherein the alkali metal fluoride is at least one selected from the group consisting of sodium fluoride, lithium fluoride, and potassium fluoride.

3 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the molten-salt electrolytic bath is prepared by melting at least the silicon-containing alkali metal salt in the molten salt.

4 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the silicon-containing alkali metal salt is Na 2 SiF 6 .

5 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the pulse duration in the constant-current pulse electrolysis or the constant-potential pulse electrolysis totals from 60 seconds to 1,800 seconds.

6 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the metal sheet is a metal foil having a thickness of 10 μm to 15 μm.

7 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the molten salt contains the alkali metal fluoride in an amount of from 2 mol % to 3.5 mol %.

8 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the molten salt contains the lithium chloride in an amount of from 53 mol % to 59 mol %, the potassium chloride in an amount of from 38 mol % to 44 mol %, and the alkali metal fluoride in an amount of from 2 mol % to 3.5 mol %.

9 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the molten-salt electrolytic bath contains the silicon-containing alkali metal salt and the silicon-containing ammonium salt in a total amount of from 0.01 mol % to 5.0 mol % with respect to a total amount of the molten salt.

10 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the silicon layer is formed by the constant-current pulse electrolysis under the conditions.

11 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 10 , wherein the constant-current pulse electrolysis is carried out at a cathode current density during turn-on time of 0.3 A/dm 2 to 3.0 A/dm 2 .

12 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the constant-current pulse electrolysis or the constant-potential pulse electrolysis is carried out with the metal sheet immersed in the molten-salt electrolytic bath maintained at a temperature of from 473 K to 873 K.

13 . The method of producing a silicon-plated metal sheet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the silicon layer is a dendritic silicon layer comprising 99% by mass or more Si with the remainder being impurities.