Examination of Copper Electrowinning Smoothing Agents. Part II: Fundamental Electrochemical Examination of DXG-F7
Abstract
Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and galvanodynamic and chronopotentiometric techniques were used to characterize the effects of DXG-F7®, a commercial smoothing agent, on copper electrodeposition onto 316L stainless steel from a synthetic electrolyte containing 40 g/L copper (Cu2+), 160 g/L sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and 20 mg/L chloride (Cl-) at 40°C. The findings were compared against results using HydroStar® 4208, a modified polysaccharide. The nucleation overpotential and plating potential observed in cyclic voltammetry and galvanodynamic testing showed that neither DXG-F7 nor HydroStar significantly polarized acidic copper electrodeposition. Subtle differences between the additives were found during EIS testing and modeling, but more research will be needed to fully understand these differences. Surface-roughness measurements of two-hour deposits indicate that DXG-F7 and HydroStar produced smoother deposits as their concentrations in the electrolyte increased. No difference in the surface roughness of deposits was detected between the additives. Based on the experimental evidence resulting from the laboratory testing, no significant difference was found between DXG-F7 and HydroStar at 20 mg/L Cl- concentration, with the exception that DXG-F7 dissolves more easily in water than HydroStar.
Recommended Citation
A. Luyima et al., "Examination of Copper Electrowinning Smoothing Agents. Part II: Fundamental Electrochemical Examination of DXG-F7," Minerals and Metallurgical Processing, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 14 - 22, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Feb 2016.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.19150/mmp.6463
Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Additives; Copper; Cyclic voltammetry; DXG-F7; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; Electrowinning; HydroStar
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0747-9182
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2016 Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Feb 2016