Scaling Analysis of Electrodeposited Copper and the Influence of a Modified Polysaccharide on Surface Roughness
Abstract
The influence of a commercially available modified polysaccharide (HydroStar®, Chemstar Chemical Products) on the roughness of short-term and small-scale copper electrodeposits was investigated using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), linear scan profilometry and scaling analysis. Copper was deposited on a 316L stainless steel cathode at 40 °C and 300 A m−2 from an electrolyte containing 40 g L−1 Cu2+, 170 g L−1 H2SO4, 1.5 g L−1 Fe3+, 15 mg L−1 Cl− and either 0, 10, 50 or 100 mg L−1 of HydroStar. Copper deposits produced between 15 and 25 min were imaged using AFM and 2D linear scan profilometry was used to gather surface features of copper samples produced in the range of 120 and 240 min. Scaling analysis was applied to quantify the surface characteristics of limiting roughness (δ) and critical length (LC) from which δ/LC was computed and related to the aspect ratio of surface features. All copper deposits showed a general rise in δ and LC with deposition time but the growth rates decreased when HydroStar was included in the electrolyte indicating that the additive lowers the vertical height of surface features as well as their widths. Furthermore, copper deposits were more consistently produced in the presence of HydroStar and, for a given value of limiting roughness, had surface features with wider base than those created in the absence of the additive. The results show that the modified polysaccharide acts to create smooth copper deposits by generating surface features with lower aspect ratios.
Recommended Citation
J. L. Shepherd et al., "Scaling Analysis of Electrodeposited Copper and the Influence of a Modified Polysaccharide on Surface Roughness," Hydrometallurgy, vol. 231, article no. 106405, Elsevier, Jan 2025.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2024.106405
Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Additive; Atomic force microscopy; Copper electrodeposition; HydroStar; Linear scan Profilometry; Scaling analysis
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0304-386X
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2025
Comments
Laurentian University, Grant None