Nucleation and growth of copper on glassy carbon: Studies in extended overpotential interval

The nucleation and growth of copper crystals on a glassy carbon electrode are investigated at different constant overpotentials. Current transients are recorded and the number of copper nuclei is microscopically registered. The experimental data for the growth current are interpreted according to the theories of progressive and instantaneous nucleation and information is obtained on the stationary nucleation rate, the saturation nucleus number density and the exchange current density at the crystals–solution interface boundary.     

Current transient study of the kinetics of nucleation and diffusion-controlled growth of bimetallic phases

A model to describe the kinetics of nucleation and diffusion-controlled growth of bimetallic phases has been developed, and analytical expressions have been obtained for the elucidation of nucleation kinetics through determination of the number density N ₀ of active sites and their nucleation frequency A, from experimental current transients obtained under potentiostatic control. The validity of the model has been demonstrated with the electrodeposition of Ag–Hg phases at two distinct compositions.     

Estimation of line tension and contact angle from heterogeneous nucleation experimental data

Using the classical nucleation theory corrected with line tension and experimental data of heterogeneous nucleation of n-nonane, n-propanol, and their mixture on silver particles of three different sizes, the authors were able to estimate the line tensions and the microscopic contact angles for the above mentioned systems. To do this they applied generalized Young's equation for the line tension and calculated the interfacial tensions using Li and Neumann's equation [Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 39, 299 (1992)]. It has been found that, for both unary and binary systems, the line tension is negative and the resulting microscopic contact angle derived from experimental nucleation data is most of the time larger than the macroscopic one. This is in contrast to earlier studies where the influence of line tension has not been accounted for. The values of the three phase contact line tension obtained in this way are of the same order of magnitude as the estimations for other systems reported in literature. The line tension effect also decreases considerably the nucleation barrier.     

Extracting nucleation rates from current–time transients: Part III: nucleation kinetics following the application of a pre-pulse

The behaviour of the transients due to the model of the growth of right-circular cones is fully explored and compared to that of hemispheroids. The conditions that justify the use of the limiting forms of the transient equations for the so-called ‘instantaneous’ and ‘progressive’ nucleation processes are evaluated. Nucleation rates obtained from the fit of the recorded transients to the generalised equations derived for both growth models are compared. It is shown that even in those cases where electrocrystallisation proceeds via nucleation and growth of hemispheroids, analysis of the transients according to the model of the growth of cones results in estimates of nucleation rates which differ by at most a factor of three, and in most cases are as close as half the actual value.     

铋在玻碳电极上电化学结晶初步研究(英文)

应用循环伏安法和计时安培法研究了铋在玻碳电极上的电结晶行为.循环伏安曲线显示了铋在玻碳电极上成核的典型特征,并表明其于玻碳电极上的电结晶是一个扩散控制过程.根据计时安培法响应曲线分析阐明了铋的浓度和过电势对成核生长机理的影响.进一步的定量测试表明该成核速率常数A和活化点密度N0随过电势增加呈现指数增大规律;扩散系数D随过电势增加呈指数衰减.以上实验结果至今未见报道.同时表明:Scharifker公式和Heerman公式均可用于本实验的理论解释.     

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of nucleation and growth in electrodeposition

Nucleation and growth during bulk electrodeposition is studied using kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations. Ion transport in solution is modeled using Brownian dynamics, and the kinetics of nucleation and growth are dependent on the probabilities of metal-on-substrate and metal-on-metal deposition. Using this approach, we make no assumptions about the nucleation rate, island density, or island distribution. The influence of the attachment probabilities and concentration on the time-dependent island density and current transients is reported. Various models have been assessed by recovering the nucleation rate and island density from the current-time transients.     

Synthesis and characterization of miniemulsion copolymers of methyl methacrylate (or styrene) and stearyl methacrylate

The copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) (or styrene (ST))/stearyl methacrylate (SMA) obtained from miniemulsion polymerization were prepared and characterized. All the miniemulsions showed satisfactory colloidal stability upon aging due to the effectively retarded Ostwald ripening by the reactive costabilizer SMA. In subsequent miniemulsion copolymerizations, monomer droplet nucleation predominated in the particle formation process, but homogeneous nucleation could not be ruled out even at such high levels of SMA (20–50 wt.%). The contact angle first increased rapidly and then leveled off when the SMA content increased from 20 to 50 wt.% for both the copolymers of MMA/SMA and ST/SMA. At constant level of SMA, the copolymer of MMA/SMA with a less hydrophobic composition showed a larger contact angle compared to the ST/SMA counterpart. The contact angle (103 ± 1°) of the copolymer MMA/SMA (50/50 w/w) was comparable to that (104°) of PSMA. A schematic model was proposed to explain the experimental results.     

Extracting nucleation rates from current–time transients: further comments

Nucleation rate constants, over a range of deposition potentials, are obtained for the electrocrystallisation of nickel onto a vitreous carbon electrode using the pre-pulse method. This method is based on the analysis of the early stages of two transients, one obtained as a result of the application of a single potential step, and the other resulting from the application of two potential steps (the first as a pre-pulse potential of large amplitude and short duration followed by another at which the nucleation rate is to be determined). A′-values thus obtained are compared with those estimated from the fit of the transients (each recorded at a single potential step at which A′ is to be determined) to the generalised equation derived for the model of growth of right-circular cones. The values obtained by the two methods are shown to differ from one another by about a factor of 20. Though it has been possible to obtain, with the application of two potential steps, transients which display, in the early stages of deposition, a rising current proportional to the square of the deposition time, it is shown to be impossible to describe adequately the behaviour of these transients in terms of instantaneous formation and subsequent growth of centres for the case of the deposition of nickel onto a vitreous carbon electrode. In the light of the above findings the suitability of the pre-pulse method as a means of estimating A′ has therefore been questioned in this example of electrocrystallisation. It has been shown that, even for electrocrystallisation processes where the pre-pulse method is a valid method of estimating A′, this method is, strictly speaking, applicable only to the deposition processes obtained at the lower range of potentials (at which A′ is 20 times less than the product of the radial growth rate and the square root of the density of nucleation sites). The inability of classical and atomistic theories of nucleation to arrive at plausible values for critical nucleation size has once again been demonstrated.     

Electrochemical deposition of silver in room-temperature ionic liquids and its surface-enhanced Raman scattering effect

The use of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as media for electrochemical application is very attractive. In this work, the electrochemical deposition of silver was investigated at a glassy carbon electrode in hydrophobic 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF6) and hydrophilic 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF4) RTILs and in KNO3 aqueous solution by cyclic voltammetric and potentiostatic transient techniques. The voltammograms showed the presence of reduction and oxidation peaks associated with the deposition and dissolution of silver from AgBF4 in both BMIMPF6 and BMIMBF(4), resembling the redox behavior of AgNO3 in KNO3 aqueous solution. A crossover loop was observed in all the cyclic voltammograms of these electrochemical systems, indicating a nucleation process. From the analysis of the experimental current transients, it was shown that the electrochemical deposition process of silver in these media was characteristic of 3D nucleation with diffusion-controlled hemispherical growth, and the silver nucleation closely followed the response predicted for progressive nucleation in BMIMPF6 and instantaneous nucleation in KNO3 aqueous solution, respectively. Compared with these two cases, the electrochemical deposition of silver in BMIMBF4 deviated from both the instantaneous and progressive nucleation models, which could be controlled by mixed kinetics and diffusion. On the basis of the experimental results, it was shown that parameters such as viscosity and water miscibility of RTILs would affect the electrodeposition behavior of silver. Atom force microscopy was employed to probe the surface morphology of the silver deposit, and it showed that the shining electrodeposit of silver was fairly dense and separate nanoclusters of <100 nm were in evidence, corresponding to an island growth model. The strongly enhanced Raman scattering from the monolayer film of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid demonstrated that as-prepared silver nanoparticular film was surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active. The enhancement factor was calculated to be up to 9.0 x 10(5) and 1.0 x 10(6) for the silver film obtained in BMIMPF6 and BMIMBF4 RTILs, respectively.     

Time Dependence of Current during Potentiostatic Growth of Clusters in Diffusion Mode of Electrodeposition

The fundamentally new model describes the initial current transients during the growth of clusters in the diffusion mode after instantaneous nucleation. The specific feature of the model is that it is based on the initial hemispherical diffusion of ions from bulk solution to the surface of growing clusters rather than on the period of Cottrell current decay. The subsequent overlapping of diffusion zones is taken into account by multiplying the current by a factor smaller than unity. The factor is equal to the ratio of true diffusion volume to the “extended” volume, which is equal to the overall volume of all diffusion hemispheres ignoring their overlapping. The results calculated by the model appeared to be rather close to those obtained using the conventional Scharifker–Hills–Mostany model, and, thus, confirm the correctness of this model. In this connection, the reasons for its inconsistency with the experimental data on the number of growing clusters remain unclear.     

铅锑电极上PbO2生长过程的阻抗跟踪法研究

铅锑电极上ＰｂＯ_２生长过程的阻抗跟踪法研究韦国林，杨鸿兴，王家荣（上海大学嘉定校区化学系，上海，２０１８００）利用交流阻抗技术研究Ｐｂ／Ｈ２ＳＯ４体系中电化学过程，通常采用某一等效电路，并对所得的多频率阻抗频谱进行拟合处理，由此获得相关电化学信息。?..     

On the behaviour of molecules of the quinoline group at the water—Mercury interface: Part III. The kinetics of the isoquinoline transition in the presence of an “inert” electrolyte

The reorientation transition, which involves two distinct monolayers of isoquinoline molecules, has been investigated by using the single-potential step and the double-potential step methods under various experimental conditions.The cathodic transients correspond to a liquid → solid transition. Their morphology and half-times have been measured at various initial and final potentials, and for several isoquinoline concentrations close to the saturation value. At small overvoltages, the reorientation process is determined by heterogeneous (“instantaneous”) nucleation, while progressive nucleation and growth prevail at higher potentials. Recourse to the double-potential step method affords an efficient way of assessing separately the influence of the overvoltage on the rate constants for nucleation and growth. Determination of the critical nucleus size and the activation energy for each of the two processes has been based on an adaptation of the Brandes theory developed for two-dimensional crystallization from a supersaturated vapour phase. The kinetics are markedly dependent on the initial state, which can be easily controlled by the potential and the bulk concentration. When the potential is stepped from the region where there is superadsorption, progressive nucleation is particularly fast, while starting from a partially depleted layer gives much slower transients with extensive tailing due to diffusional hindrance.The anodic transients show consonant characteristics which indicate that the initial film can be considered as a two-dimensional solid, and that boundary defects are acting as nucleation centres, during the solid → liquid transition triggered by the potential step.     

Dynamics of liquid penetration into capillary tubes

The dynamics of penetration is considered in the case where inertia effects are small. The effect of the contact line speed on the dynamic contact angle is taken into consideration. Analytical solutions are obtained for short and large times, and are found to cover together most of the time domain. The results obtained numerically show good agreement with the asymptotic solutions. The large-time solutions are valid in the case of penetration into horizontal capillaries. The large-time asymptotic solution shows a correction term compared to the Lucas-Washburn equation, which is found to be a limiting case valid for very large times (horizontal capillaries case). The analysis shows how to include gravity effects in the case of penetration into vertical tubes. Excellent agreement is found with available published experimental data.     

Optimization of the electrodeposition of copper on poly-1-naphthylamine for the amperometric detection of carbohydrates in HPLC

A modified electrode consisting of copper dispersed in a poly-1-naphthylamine (p-1-NAP/Cu) film on a glassy carbon electrode was used as an amperometric detector for the on-line analysis of various carbohydrates separated by high performance liquid chromatography. The results obtained with this new sensor were compared to those obtained with a modified electrode based on the same polymer but with copper ions incorporated at open circuit, as described in a previous paper. In this new modified electrode the copper microparticles were electrochemically deposited into the polymeric matrix by single potential step chronoamperometry. A nucleation and growth mechanism was proposed to explain the current transients of copper electrodeposition. The experimental results were fitted to the proposed mechanism by using a mathematical equation that considers three-dimensional growth and progressive nucleation, assuming a no overlap and no diffusion mechanism. Cyclic voltammetric experiments showed that the electrodeposited copper microparticles provided a catalytic surface suited for the oxidation of glucose and several carbohydrates. The sensitivity of the electrode was influenced by the amount of copper electrodeposited, which in turn depended on the applied overpotential used for the deposition of copper. Liquid chromatographic experiments were carried out to test the analytical performance of these electrodes for the determination of various carbohydrates.     

Electrodeposition mechanism of nickel films on polycrystalline copper from dilute simple sulphate solutions

In this paper, we have studied the mechanism of nucleation and growth of nickel from a simple sulfate bath on polycrystalline copper (Cu) substrate. Cyclic voltammetry technique and current transients recorded during electrodeposition of nickel on Cu were used to evaluate the electrochemical deposition of nickel on copper. Results show that nickel starts to grow on copper from a typical potential of −0.7 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Increasing scan rate of cyclic voltammograms shifts the reduction peaks towards a more negative values. We plotted non-dimensional graphs according to the Scharifker-Hills theory and concluded an instantaneous nucleation and growth mechanism for nickel elecrodeposited on copper based on our experimental conditions.     

Nucleation and growth mechanism for the electropolymerization of aniline in trifluoroacetic acid/lithium perchlorate/propylene carbonate medium

In the present work, the nucleation and growth mechanism for the electropolymerization of aniline in propylene carbonate medium containing 0.06 M trifluoroacetic acid and 0.05 M lithium perchlorate was investigated at different potentials on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by potentiostatic current-time transients (i-t) and atomic force microscopic (AFM) measurements. The electrochemical data fitted with the theoretical curves for nucleation and growth suggest that the electropolymerization of aniline consists of progressive nucleation followed by 3D growth at an early stage and layer-by-layer growth in subsequent periods. The results obtained from transient analysis were in good agreement with the results of the AFM analysis. In our previous studies with aqueous solutions, we observed only progressive nucleation followed by a 3D growth mechanism for the electropolymerization of aniline in a higher potential range, 1.5–2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Hence, the results obtained from the present work indicate that the nucleation and growth mechanism depends on the medium.     

Kinetics of condensation of adenine at the mercury electrolyte interface

The kinetics of phase transitions of adenine adsorbed on mercury are studied by chronocoulometry and chronoamperometry from aqueous 0.1 M KClO₄ and 0.5 M NaF solutions. Experimental conditions have been selected to minimise, in the overall kinetic response, the contribution of the initial current decay, due to double-layer charging and the adsorption step. The transients corrected for these fast initial contributions present a peaked shape and can be described by the classical theory for nucleation and growth. The potential dependences of the rate constants of nucleation and growth have been obtained from double potential step experiments. The analysis of the condensation kinetics according to the classical nucleation theory leads to the evaluation of the line tension, and the Gibbs energy of formation of a critical cluster and its size.     

On the Model Describing Potentiostatic Current Transients Recorded during the Mass Transport-controlled Nucleation of Hemispheres in the Presence of Forced Convection

In this work it is shown from analysis of experimental current density transients, recorded during copper electrodeposition, under force convection condition, that the use of the so called current density correction, j₀, proposed for Hyde et al. (M. E. Hyde, O.V. Klymenko, R.G. Compton, The theory of electrodeposition in the presence of forced convection: Transport controlled nucleation of hemispheres, J. Electroanal. Chem. 534 (2002) 13) for fitting purposes only is not recommended, since it provokes that the related values with physical meaning, for instance the diffusion layer thickness (δ) shifts away from the correct values, found using the equation proposed by Levich (B. Levich, Physicochemical Hydrodynamics, Prentice, (1962)).     

锌在玻璃碳上的电化学成核机理

线性扫描伏安法和电位阶跃法被用来研究氯化钾镀锌溶液中锌在玻璃碳上电结晶的初期阶段。发现锌在该基体上的沉积没有经历UPD过程。在本实验条件下, 成熟晶核的生长受溶液中锌离子的扩散所控制, 而晶核形成的机理依有无添加剂存在而异。通过分析恒电位暂态, 求出锌离子的扩散系数D, 以及不同过电位η下的成核速度常数A和晶核数密度N_0。A和η的关系表明“原子模型”比经典的成核模型更适合于本研究体系。N_0与η的经验关系式由曲线拟合而得。本文着重讨论了过电位和添加剂对成核作用的影响。     

Influence of [BMIM]HSO4 on electrodeposition and corrosion behavior of Zn coatings from acidic sulfate bath

The effect of 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate‐[BMIM]HSO₄ on the nucleation and growth of zinc from acidic sulfate bath was investigated at a glassy carbon (GC) electrode using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometric and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Dimensionless chronoamperometric current‐time transients for the electrodeposition of zinc on GC from the bath free of [BMIM]HSO₄ were in good accord with the theoretical transients for the limiting case of instantaneous three‐dimensional nucleation with diffusion‐controlled growth of the nuclei. The addition of [BMIM]HSO₄ was found to have a blocking effect on the electrodeposition of zinc and led to decrease of the nucleation and growth rate of nuclei. In addition, the instantaneous nucleation mechanism observed in the additive‐free bath was changed to a more progressive one when [BMIM]HSO₄ was present in the bath. Surface morphology analysis indicated that [BMIM]HSO₄ can induce the formation of finer grained deposits by the adsorption of additive in the first stages of deposition. The corrosion behavior of Q235 steel with coating by a thin layer of zinc in the absence and presence of [BMIM]HSO₄ was examined in 3.5% NaCl solution. The Zn coating obtained from the additive‐containing baths exhibited more excellent protection of the base metal in comparison to the additive‐free one. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.