Nucleation Process of Indium on a Copper Electrode

Abstract

The electrodeposition of indium onto a copper electrode from an aqueous sulfate solution containing In3+ was studied by means of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Reduction and oxidation of indium on copper were investigated by using cyclic voltammograms at different negative limiting potentials and at different scan rates in cumulative cycles. Cyclic voltammograms indicated that reduction and oxidation processes of indium could involve various reactions. Chronoamperometry was carried out to analyze the nucleation mechanism of indium in the early stage of indium electrodeposition. The non-dimensional plot of the current transients at different potentials showed that the shape of the plot depended on the applied potential. The nucleation of indium at potential step of -0.6 similar to-0.8 V was close to progressive nucleation limited by diffusion. However the nondimensional plot of current transients for the indium nucleation showed different behaviors from theoretical curves at the potential step lower than -0.8 V.