A study of the electrodeposition of cadmium from solutions of CdI2-tetra-alkylammonium-iodides-ethylformamide has been made. At low cds substrate-oriented deposits are formed in [(C4H9)4N]2CdI4-dimethylformamide solutions; above a critical cd, which increases from ca 20 to 45 mA/cm2 with increasing temperature from 18 to 45°C but is independent of concentration, random microcrystalline deposits are obtained. Uniform, adherent, randomly oriented microcrystalline deposits up to 120 μm thick can be obtained under optimum conditions. Under galvanostatic conditions, the first 500-1000 Å of metal deposited in 0·4 M [(C4H9)4N]2CdI4-dimethylformamide solutions at 25 mA/cm2 at 25°C are substrate-oriented. A transition stage at 1000-2000 Å thickness leads to random microcrystalline growth of small (0·1-0·15 μm dia) crystals. Although moderately, satisfactory microcrystalline coatings of limited thickness can be obtained from the CdI2-tetra-heptylammonium-iodide-dimethylformamide system, deposits from both this system and the corresponding tetrahexylammonium iodide system are in general powdery and unsatisfactory. © 1969.