Effect of Electrolysis Parameters on the Fractal Structure of Electrodeposited Copper

Abstract

<p>Models based on diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) have been extensively used to explore the mechanisms of dendritic particle aggregation phenomena. The physical and chemical properties of systems in which DLA aggregates emerge are given in their fractal. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of the growth of electrodeposited copper dendrites in flat plate electrochemical cells from a fractal perspective. The effects of growth time, applied voltage, copper ion concentration, and electrolyte acidity on the morphology and fractal dimension of deposited copper were examined. ‘Phase diagram’ set out the variety of electrodeposited copper fractal morphology analysed by metallographic microscopy. The box counting method confirms that the electrodeposited dendritic structures manifestly exhibit fractal character. It was found that with the increase of the voltage and copper ion concentration. The fractal copper size becomes larger and its morphology shifts towards a dendritic structure, with the fractal dimension fluctuating around 1.60–1.70. In addition, the morphology of the deposited copper is significantly affected by the acidity of the electrolyte. The increase in acidity from 0.01 to 1.00 mol/L intensifies the hydrogen precipitation side reactions and the overflow path of hydrogen bubbles affects the fractal growth of copper dendrites.</p>