The presented work reports on conditions of electrodeposition of ternary Zn-Ni-P alloys on low carbon steel substrates, using a chloride sulfate electrolyte containing beta(beta)-alanine, NaH2PO2 center dot H2O and H3PO2. The chemical and phase compositions of the alloy are determined via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), coupled with an Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDAX) device and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. At pH values of the electrolyte 2-3 and current densities of 1-2 A dm(2), the electrodeposited alloys contain an amorphous phase and they are essentially Ni-Zn-P alloys with different phosphorous content. The increase of pH up to 4 and higher current densities (5 A dm(2)) lead to the deposition of Zn-Ni-P alloys with traces of phosphorous, i.e. practically Zn-Ni alloys are obtained. These alloys however differ substantially both in the surface morphology and phase composition as to the usual Zn-Ni alloys, electrodeposited from phosphorous-free electrolytes. The paper reports also results from cyclic voltammetry (CVA) studies on the electrodeposition process of the Zn-Ni-P alloys. Discussion on fundamental aspects of electrodeposition of ternary alloys is made. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.