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New Insights in Nanoelectrodeposition: An Electrochemical Aggregative Growth Mechanism

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Book cover Handbook of Nanoelectrochemistry

Abstract

Supported nanostructures represent the cornerstone for numerous applications in different fields such as electrocatalysis (fuel cells) or electroanalysis (sensors). In contrast to other methods, electrochemical deposition allows the growth of the nanostructures directly on the final support, improving the electron pathway within the substrate, nanostructure, and electrolyte. However, despite the increasing number of publications in the field, the early stages of electrochemical nanocrystal formation are still under discussion.

In this chapter, we first provide a survey on the traditional approaches to study the early stages of electrochemical nucleation and growth, together with the classical theories used to understand them. Next, we describe our most recent findings which have led to reformulate the Volmer-Weber island growth mechanism into an electrochemical aggregative growth mechanism which mimics the atomistic processes of the early stages of thin-film growth by considering nanoclusters of few nm as building blocks instead of single atoms. We prove that the early stages of nanoelectrodeposition are strongly affected by nanocluster self-limiting growth, surface diffusion, aggregation, and coalescence.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support from the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek in Vlaanderen (FWO, contract no. FWOAL527), the Flemish Hercules 3 program for large infrastructure and the Société Française de Bienfaisance et d’Enseignement (S.F.B.E.) de San Sebastian-Donostia (Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Materials and Chemistry, Research Group Electrochemical and Surface Engineering (SURF), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Jon Ustarroz, Annick Hubin & Herman Terryn

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  1. Jon Ustarroz
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  2. Annick Hubin
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  3. Herman Terryn
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Correspondence to Jon Ustarroz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Mahmood Aliofkhazraei

  2. Manufacturing Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Texas Pan-American, Edinburg, Texas, USA

    Abdel Salam Hamdy Makhlouf

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Ustarroz, J., Hubin, A., Terryn, H. (2016). New Insights in Nanoelectrodeposition: An Electrochemical Aggregative Growth Mechanism. In: Aliofkhazraei, M., Makhlouf, A. (eds) Handbook of Nanoelectrochemistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15266-0_10

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