Cyclic voltammetry study of electrodeposition of CuGaSe2 thin films on ITO-glass substrates

The electrodeposition mechanism of CuGaSe₂ (CGS) thin films on ITO substrates has been investigated using cyclic voltammetry technique. The cyclic voltammetric study was performed in unitary Cu, Ga and Se systems, binary Cu–Se, Ga–Se systems and ternary Cu–Ga–Se system. The electrodeposition metallic Ga from Ga unitary electrolytes is impossible due to its low reduction potential. No reduction peak was found for the reduction of Ga³⁺ to Ga in the cyclic voltammogram of unitary system. However, in the cyclic voltammogram of ternary Cu–Ga–Se system, reduction peak at −0.6 V was observed with addition of GaCl₃. Also, current density of the peak was increased with increasing concentration of GaCl₃. It is corresponded to the formation of gallium selenides and/or copper–gallium–selenium compounds. The contents of Ga in the films were significantly changed from −0.4 V to −0.6 V. SEM and XRD analysis also showed that surface morphology and crystalline phase of films were significantly changed with increasing Ga content.     

Corrosion resistance and lubricated sliding wear behaviour of novel Ni-P graded alloys as an alternative to hard Cr deposits

Alternative process to hexavalent chromium, substitute materials and new designs are urgently needed owing to the requirement of “clean” manufacture. This comparative study was conducted to systematically investigate the corrosion resistance and lubricated sliding wear behavior of graded Ni-P alloy deposits produced from a single plating bath by electrodeposition and hard Cr deposits, using potentiodynamic polarization and reciprocating ball-on-disc tribometer. Results showed that Ni-P deposits heat-treated at 400 °C with maximum hardness exhibited more than two orders of magnitude higher corrosion resistance than hard Cr deposits in 10 wt.% HCl solution. The Stribeck curves for the heat-treated Ni-P gradient deposits and hard Cr under lubrication conditions were obtained with accurate control of normal load and sliding speed during the wear process, three main different regimes corresponding to different lubrication mechanism were identified. Heat-treated Ni-P gradient deposits showed relatively poor wear resistance than hard Cr deposits under the lubrication conditions, which may be attributed to superior oil-retaining surface structure and the unique “nodular” effect of hard Cr in wear process.     

Electrodeposition of Pt nanoclusters on the surface modified by monolayer poly(amidoamine) dendrimer film

Preparation of Pt nanoclusters on the poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) modified surface by electrodeposition was firstly reported. The presence of PAMAM could affect the growth of Pt nanostructures. Field-emitted scanning microscopy images showed that these nanoclusters were not common nanoparticles but were consisted of many small nanoparticles. The size of them could be controlled and the deposition mechanism was also discussed. This method would give a route of preparing novel nanostructures by electrodeposition.     

Intermediate molybdenum oxides involved in binary and ternary induced electrodeposition

The first stages of Co–Ni and Co–Ni–Mo deposition in sulphate–citrate medium at pH 4.0 were analysed. In both cases, the formation of non-hydrogenated nickel on the electrode before alloy deposition was detected by linear sweep voltammetry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Co–Ni electrodeposition was anomalous since the Co/Ni ratio in the alloy was higher than the corresponding [Co(II)]/[Ni(II)] ratio in solution. The adsorption of Co(II) over the initial nickel could explain the anomalous codeposition, which persisted with the addition of molybdate to the Co–Ni bath. However, the formation of intermediate molybdenum oxides also took place. A mechanism has been proposed to describe the sequence of steps for Co–Ni–Mo electrodeposition. Under our conditions, the alloy is formed mainly from free Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ cations, whereas molybdate is reduced firstly to molybdenum oxide from MoO₄(H₃Cit)²⁻ and, secondly, NiCit⁻ catalyses the subsequent reduction to molybdenum metal of the intermediate [MoO₂–NiCit⁻]_ads species.     

Pulse Plating of Zn-Co Alloy Coatings

Pulse plating of Zn-Co alloys was studied using square pulse containing reverse current.The surface morphologies of Zn-Co alloy deposits were examined using scanning elecron microscopy （SEM）, and an attendant energy dispersive X-ray analyzer （EDA） was used to analyze the composition of Zn-Co alloy deposits. Results obtained showed that the average current density and reverse current density amongst all the variables investigated had very strong effects on the cobalt content and surface morphologies of Zn-Co alloy deposits. It is possible to elecrodeposit Zn-Co alloy coatings with a very wide cobalt content range of 10-90 wt% by modulating pulse parameters.     

Electrochemical formation and composition analysis of Zn x Cd1-x Se solid solutions

The direct growth of ZnSe–CdSe solid solution onto metallic cathodes by electrodeposition from acidic aqueous sulphate solutions is described. The plating process is studied by simple voltammetry, while the structure and composition of the electrolytic deposits are investigated by X-ray diffraction. The experimental d-spacing values of the as-grown mixed lattice are compared to data from reference Zn _x Cd_1-x Se pellets of standard composition, produced by a sintering method. The findings are supplemented with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) elemental analysis. Thereupon, the variation of the mole fraction x in Zn _x Cd_1-x Se, and the solid phase constitution of the electrodeposits are determined and correlated to the electrochemical conditions of growth. The resulting films contain admixtures of CdSe compound and metallic Cd.     

Electrodeposition of epitaxial nickel films on GaAs

The structural and magnetic properties of Ni films grown by electrodeposition from simple sulfate solutions directly onto the (0 0 1) and (0 1 1) surfaces of n-GaAs have been studied. In-plane X-ray diffraction has been used to show that Ni grows on (0 0 1) GaAs with two different preferred epitaxial relationships: (1) perpendicular to plane (0 0 1)_Ni(0 0 1)_GaAs and preferred orientation in-plane [1 0 0]_Ni[1 1 0]_GaAs and (2) perpendicular to plane (0 1 1)_Ni(0 0 1)_GaAs and preferred orientation in-plane [1 1 1]_Ni[1 1 0]_GaAs. Nickel films grown on (0 1 1) n-GaAs show only a single preferred growth relationship: perpendicular to plane (1 1 1)_Ni(0 1 1)_GaAs and in-plane [1 1 0]_Ni[1 1 0]_GaAs. The magnetic properties were strongly dependent on the substrate orientation. The films grown on GaAs (0 0 1) showed a small but definite four-fold magnetic anisotropy in plane with the highest remanence being found along the GaAs [1 0 0] direction. In contrast, the Ni films grown on the (0 1 1) GaAs showed a pronounced uniaxial anisotropy with an anisotropy field of approximately 500 Oe.     

染料敏化TiO2/WO3薄膜电池的光电变色

用光电化学方法研究了染料Ru(П) (4, 4′di COOEt 2, 2′bpy)2 (2, 2′bpy 4, 4′di CONH L tyrosineethylester) (PF6)2 (简写为Ru4)敏化TiO2 纳米结构电极的光电转换过程,同时,在导电玻璃上电沉积得到WO3 薄膜.结果表明,染料敏化的TiO2 多孔膜具有光电转换性能, WO3 薄膜具有良好的电致变色效应,将前者与电沉积得到的WO3 薄膜组成电池,在白光照射下可产生显著的颜色变化,有望用于自供电源的电色灵巧窗(Self poweredsmartwindow).     

Electrochemically Co‐deposited Teeth‐like Virus‐Platinum Nanohybrids as an Electrocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation Reaction

M13 virus (M13) as scaffolds has a major appeal, owing to their mono‐dispersed, fibrillar morphology and engineerable surface reactive sites. Herein we had developed a facile electrocatalyst for energy application. Platinum nanostructures are directly co‐deposited from a wild‐type M13 (or) two different engineered M13 mixed electrolytes onto the ITO electrodes. The engineered M13 with 4E peptides could specifically nucleate Pt precursor thereby enables the efficient growth of teeth‐like structures at the ITO electrode. The electrocatalytic activity of the resulting electrocatalyst toward methanol oxidation in alkaline medium was investigated and found enhanced mass activity (0.321 A/mg_Pt) relative to the catalyst prepared from wild‐type M13, Y3E peptides engineered M13 and without M13. Our novel electrocatalyst fabrication can be extended to other metal and metal oxides and its application might be useful to develop novel clean and green energy generating and storage materials.     

The effect of magnetic fields on the electrodeposition of iron

The effect of a uniform magnetic field with flux density up to 1 T on the electrodeposition of Fe from sulphate electrolyte has been investigated under different field configurations relative to the electrode surface. Voltammetric and chronoamperometric experiments have been carried out coupled with an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance for in situ mass change measurements. The structure and morphology of the deposited films were determined by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. Results show that, when the magnetic field is applied parallel to the electrode surface, the limiting current density and the deposition rate are increased due to the magnetohydrodynamic effect. The nucleation process is also affected in parallel configuration; the current density of the maximum on the chronoamperograms is decreased, and an additional nucleation step might be observed. This effect is attributed to the hydrodynamic response of the electrochemical system. No significant influence on the electrochemical reaction was observed when a magnetic field was applied perpendicular to the electrode. But in this configuration, the morphology of deposited layers is changed by the magnetic field. The morphology changes are discussed. No effect of the magnetic field on the crystallographic structure was observed.