Copper electrocrystallization on titanium electrodes: Controlled growth of copper nuclei using a potential step technique

Abstract

Copper nanoparticles were synthesized using a pulsed sonoelectrochemical (20 kHz, 78 Wcm−2) method. Two electrolytes used were a copper salt dissolved in Na2SO4 (pH=3.80) or H2SO4 (pH=0.6). For both electrolytes and in the absence of any surfactant, monodispersed spherical copper nanoparticles were strongly aggregated in three-dimensional clusters of about 200nm. The particle size is controlled by varying reaction parameters such as duration of the experiment, current density, temperature and ultrasound power. A potential step technique is proposed to synthesize copper nanoparticules. Under potentiostatic conditions the aim is to control and decrease the nanoparticle size and reduce production costs by avoiding gas evolution and other adverse reactions.