(Electrodeposition Division Early Career Investigator Award) Self-terminated Electrodeposition – A New Way for Growing Metal Thin Films

Abstract

Electrodeposition is a more than century-old growth technique that has gained widespread usage in both academic research and industrial sectors, given its scalability, versatility, and cost-effectiveness. Through years of scientific inquiry and industrial employment, the basic understandings have been acquired for electrodeposition. Indeed, some of those knowledges have become guiding principles for practitioners in devising growth protocols. In this talk, an unorthodox approach, emerging from recent Pt electrodeposition studies, will be described. Rather than experiencing mass-diffusive control, Pt growth got quenched when overpotential was applied in excess of 1 V. Interestingly, a Pt monolayer film could be deposited before the quenching took place. This finding has led to the development of self-terminated electrodeposition, a method that has since found usage in synthesizing Pt core-shell catalysts for fuel cells and electrolyzer applications. Recent efforts to gain mechanistic insights on the quenching process itself will also be highlighted. Additionally, opportunities and challenges involving self-termination in materials design and engineering will be shown and discussed.