This work deals with the characterization of magnesium-lanthanum powders deposits produced with an electrodeposition technique using an aqueous solution based on magnesium chloride and lanthanum(III) nitrate. In recent years, the interest for magnesium-based alloys is growing due to their potential use as solid state systems for hydrogen storage. This work is a preliminary study on the synthesis of magnesium-lanthanum powders oriented to their later evaluation in systems for hydrogen storage. Magnesium and Lanthanum are deposited on a copper plate used as a cathode. Chemical composition, structure and morphology are investigated by EDS, XRD, FTIR and SEM. The effect of voltage on powders characteristics is studied considering three values (3, 3.5 and 4 V). EDS analysis shows the presence of three major elements (Mg, La and O) with a little amount of Cl. The weight percentages of Mg and O increase whereas the one of La decreases with the growth of voltage. Morphological characterization reveals that heterogeneous chemical structures are formed on the surface of the electrode and the size of aggregates decreases with the increase of voltage. From the results of X-ray analysis the deposits reveal the significant presence of two phases: Mg(OH)(2) and La(OH)(3). The peaks originating from the Mg(OH)(2) phase has a non-monotonic behavior and those of La(OH)(3) phase increase with the increase of voltage. FTIR analysis confirms the presence of the two phases identified in XRD diffractograms and exhibits that their corresponding transmittance values increase for higher voltage values. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.