Preparation of Cerium Oxide Films Using Pulse and Constant Electrodeposition Techniques

Abstract

Ceria and ceria-based materials are becoming promising resources for a number of applications in microelectronics, electrochemical devices, ultraviolet blockers and surface treatment of different metals due to their corrosion resistance. These materials are also used for the development of electrochemical gas sensors in environmental applications and food industry since they have fast response, high sensitivity to threshold concentrations and low cost. In this study, electrodeposition technique was used to prepare ceria film on nanostructured, gold-coated, polycarbonate track-etched membrane (PCTE) template. Both constant potential and pulse deposition techniques were used and the influence of deposition parameters on film surface characteristics was investigated. The structure and the electrochemical properties of the films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). A comprehensive electrochemical study was performed to understand the factors that could be controlled and optimized for a given set of surface properties. Surface properties of the ceria films were examined to study the impact of constant potential and pulsed electrodeposition techniques in creating ceria films.