The effects of the pause to pulse ratio in the regime of pulsating overpotential on the formation of honeycomb-like structures

Abstract

The formation of honeycomb-like structures in the pulsating overpotential (PO) regime was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The honeycomb-like structures obtained with a square-wave PO of different pause to pulse ratios were compared to the one obtained in the constant potentiostatic regime. Increasing the pause to pulse ratio led to a decrease of the diameter of the holes formed by attached hydrogen bubbles, as well as to an increase in the number of holes formed at the surface area of copper electrodes. The size of the agglomerates of copper grains, of which the walls of the holes were constructed, was reduced with increasing duration of the pause. Also, the uniformity of the honeycomb-like structures was increased by application of the PO regime. It was shown that the effects attained by application of this regime were comparable with those obtained by electrodeposition in a constant potential regime with the addition of specific additives.