Electrophoretic deposition of carbon/ZnS composite electrode layers

Abstract

In this study, the formation of zinc sulphide-carbon nanocomposite layers by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was investigated with various compositions. Under the addition of Mg(NO3)2 and Al(NO3)3 the approach allowed to form stable and thick porous deposits for potential application as electrocatalyst. VulcanXC-72R carbon was used as carbon source and oxidized to provide dispersibility in isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Zinc sulphide nanoparticles were synthesized with cysteamine as capping agent by a precipitation method. Different compositions of these materials were used and electrodeposited to analyse the structural differences in the resulting layers. We showed that the use of cations such as Mg2+ or Al3＋ allowed to increase the deposition rates in most cases and to avoid agglomeration which could be characterized by zeta potential measurements. Structural analysis of the resulting layers revealed a decreased density with increasing amount of carbon in presence of salt. This is attributed to different interactions in the final stages of the deposition process which are discussed in this work.