Room-temperature Electrochemical Assembly of Copper/cuprous Oxide Nanocomposites

Abstract

Nanocomposite films of copper metal and cuprous oxide, Cu₂O2 are electrodeposited at room temperature from alkaline solutions of copper(II) lactate. the electrode potential oscillates spontaneously if the films are deposited galvanostatically. the oscillation period is a function of pH, varying from 69 seconds at pH 8.7 to 11 seconds at pH 9.7. No oscillations are observed if the pH is below 8.5 or above 10. the phase composition of films deposited at 0.5 mA/cm2 is a function of pH. the composition varies from nearly pure copper (93 mole%) at pH 8, to 42 mole% copper at pH 9.5, to pure cuprous oxide when the pH exceeds 10. the observation of quasi-periodic potential oscillations suggests that the nanocomposites are layered. the calculated faradaic thickness of cuprous oxide is 5-8 nm, and the thickness of the copper layer is 1-11 nm. the thickness of each of the layers increases as the pH is lowered.

Department(s)

Chemistry

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0021-2148

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1997 Wiley-VCH Verlag, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1997

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