Ternary Fe-Co-Ni alloys were electroplated through mean of cyclic voltammetry in simple chloride baths with pH of 2.0. The anodic process in the voltammetric curves was found to completely depress the anomalous deposition of binary alloys while this anomaly was still obvious for the deposition of ternary Fe-Co-Ni alloys. From the energy-dispersive,X-ray results, the Fe/Co ratio in the ternary Fe-Co-Ni deposits was equal to the Fe2+/Co2+ ratio in the deposition solutions when the Ni2+ content was continuously changed. The composition of ternary Fe-Co-Ni deposits could be precisely predicted and easily controlled by adjusting the Ni2+/(Fe2+ +Ni2+ +CO2+) ratio in the plating solutions although a synergistic effect in depressing the codeposition of Ni onto the Fe-Co-Ni matrix due to the coexistence of Co2+ and Fe2+ was clearly demonstrated in this work. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.