Non-uniform Film Research Articles

Plasmonic hole-transport-layer enabled self-powered hybrid perovskite photodetector using a modified perovskite deposition method in ambient air

Herein, we report on an air-processed high performance self-powered hybrid perovskite (Pe) photodetector with plasmonic Silver nanoparticle (Ag NP) embedded hole-transport-layer (HTL), without the use of any electron-transporting layer (ETL). It is demonstrated that in the absence of ETL in the device, the Ag NPs embedded PEDOT:PSS HTL improves the photodetection performance significantly. We used a novel N2 gas assisted fast crystallization method for the deposition of perovskite film in ambient condition to form uniform Pe layer as compared to the nonuniform film obtained in conventional deposition method. The Pe film on Ag NPs embedded PEDOT:PSS layer shows enhanced optical absorption in the UV–visible region due to the plasmonic absorption by the Ag NPs. At zero bias, the ETL-free Ag NPs-Pe hybrid device shows ∼45% enhanced responsivity and ∼3 times faster photoresponse compared to the pristine device. The enhancements in the performance of hybrid photodetector are attributed to plasmon-enhanced optical absorption and hot electron generation, as well as improvement in charge extraction and transport by Ag NPs, which are corroborated by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. Impedance analysis of the devices shows the reduced carrier transfer resistance of the hybrid device, which results in superior transport of photo-generated charge carriers. Direct evidence for the increase in the work function by ∼47 meV for Ag NPs doped PEDOT:PSS film is provided from the Kelvin probe force microscopy analysis. This increase in work function enables favorable band alignment with reduced energy barrier and a superior carrier transport resulting in improved photodetection performance for the hybrid device. Our results are significant for the development of high-performance, low-cost, ETL free plasmonic perovskite photodetectors for futuristic applications.

Analysis of Hydrodynamic Lubrication Considering the Self-Acceleration of a Liquid Conducting Film at Rail–Armature Interface

In a railgun, the melting of the armature as a result of great frictional and Joule heating forms a liquid conducting film over the rail–armature contact surfaces. The magnetic field was concentrated in the trailing surface of the armature and liquid film due to the velocity skin effect. Electromagnetic forces in the longitudinal direction acting on the armature and liquid film could cause a self-acceleration in the film. However, the magnetic lateral force in the film squeezes the armature legs against the rails in the transverse direction. Thus, a diverging film, with a minimum thickness at the leading edge, forms at the rail–armature interface due to easier tail deformation than head for traditional C-shaped armature legs. This paper attempts to investigate the effect of self-acceleration in this diverging film on hydrodynamic lubrication and compared with the traditional lubrication model. Total pressure distribution considering uniform and nonuniform film accelerations is investigated, respectively. It is found that the film’s self-acceleration can generate the positive pressure, strengthening the total pressure distribution. Furthermore, conditions for generating positive pressure distribution under different film accelerations are analyzed and discussed. The results show that the film acceleration can decrease the minimum film’s slope that produces a positive pressure distribution. Total pressure distribution can maintain positive at thinner film when the film acceleration is considered.

Ultrafast Transition of Nonuniform Graphene to High-Quality Uniform Monolayer Films on Liquid Cu.

It is essentially important to synthesize uniform graphene films with a controlled number of layers because their properties strongly depend on the number of layers. Although chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on Cu has been widely used to synthesize large-area graphene films, the growth on solid and liquid Cu (L-Cu) suffers from poor thickness uniformity with a great number of adlayers and difficulty in forming continuous films even after a long growth time of hours, respectively. Here, we found that nonuniform graphene films initially grown on solid Cu (S-Cu) foil can rapidly transform into continuously uniform monolayer graphene film on L-Cu within 3 min. Moreover, the films obtained show larger grain size, higher quality, better optical and electrical properties, and better performance in organic light-emitting diode applications than the original films grown on S-Cu foil. By using carbon isotope labeling, we revealed that the multilayer-to-monolayer transition of graphene on L-Cu experiences etching-"self-aligning"-coalescence processes. This two-step CVD method not only opens up a new way for the rapid growth of uniform monolayer graphene films but also provides helpful information for the controlled growth of uniform monolayers of other 2D materials such as monolayer h-BN.

Tin-Based Multiple Quantum Well Perovskites for Light-Emitting Diodes with Improved Stability.

Tin-based halide perovskites have attracted considerable attention for nontoxic perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs), but the easy oxidation of Sn2+ and nonuniform film morphology cause poor device stability and reproducibility. Herein, we report a facile approach to achieve efficient and stable lead-free PeLEDs by using tin-based perovskite multiple quantum wells (MQWs) for the first time. On the basis of various spectroscopic investigations, we find that the MQW structure not only facilitates the formation of uniform and highly emissive perovskite films but also suppresses the oxidation of Sn2+ cations. The tin-based MQW PeLED exhibits a peak external quantum efficiency of 3% and a high radiance of 40 W sr-1 m-2 with good reproducibility. Significantly, these devices show excellent operational stability with over a 2 h lifetime under a constant current density of 10 mA cm-2, which is comparable to that of lead-based PeLEDs. These results suggest that perovskite MQWs can provide a promising platform for achieving high-performance lead-free PeLEDs.

Application of non-uniform film thickness concept in predicting deviated gas wells liquid loading

Liquid loading causes undesirable occurrences such as premature death of wells, as well as significant reduction in production. However, most available models consider vertical wells and only a few focus on deviated gas wells. In order to reduce the impact of liquid loading on gas production, gas well load-up should be diagnosed at its early stage so as to proffer adequate solution. Unfortunately, most gas wells will experience liquid loading at some stage or point in their production life. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to predict liquid loading at the early life of such wells in order to develop apt liquid management strategies as corrective measures. Liquid film flow reversal concept has been identified as one of the major concepts responsible for the occurrence of liquid loading in deviated gas wells. This study develops an improvement on Chen’s liquid loading model. The model specifically introduces the concept of non-uniform film thickness around the pipe wall, as against previous works which considered uniform film thickness. A modified friction factor is also introduced to account for large film thicknesses around the pipe wall. Results from the model were compared with those of previous models, and data from published literature was used to validate the new model. The new model gave accurate predictions for 11 of 12 unloaded wells while for the loaded wells, the estimated data gave accuracies for 29 out of 30 loaded wells. This then implies that the new model is accurate for predicting liquid loading in deviated gas wells.•Predictions from the new model show a good improvement over existing models.•The uniform film assumption made in Chen liquid loading model was modified, and a different interfacial friction factor was applied.•The method proposed in this study introduces the concept of non-uniform film thickness around the pipe wall as against previous works which considered uniform film thickness.

Enhancing the corrosion resistance of Cu/Ni-P/Au electrical contacts by electropolymerized poly(methyl methacrylate)

Cu/Ni-P/Au multi-layer systems are employed as electrical contacts. The Au top-layer is thin and porous. These pores deliver the corrosive media to the under-layer, which induces the corrosion by a galvanic coupling mechanism. Therefore, filling these pores is essential to improve the lifetime of electronic devices. The pores can be sealed by the electrodeposition of poly(methyl methacrylate) that decreased the porosity index (about 97%) and increased the corrosion resistance (about 10 times) of electrical contacts after 10 cycles of electropolymerization. A non-uniform polymeric film, however, was formed at higher number of polymerization cycles (> 50) that decreased the corrosion resistance.

Method and numerical simulation for evaluating the effects of water film on the performance of low-speed axial compressor

Numerical simulations for a low-speed axial compressor under water ingestion are performed to evaluate the aerodynamic performance degradation due to the formation of water film. The water film thickness on a blade surface is calculated by a self-compiled program developed by the authors. In addition, the blade surface is divided into several regions, which can be roughened separately, to elucidate the characteristics of the nonuniform water film. The equivalent sand roughness corresponding to the root-mean-square water film thickness are specified for the blade surface to simulate the aerodynamic losses of the blade row caused by water deposition. The results show that the water film thickness is positively correlated with the water content, and negatively correlated with the compressor outlet pressure. The overall compression performance presents a downtrend after water ingestion. When the water content increased from 0.37% to 4.02%, the compression efficiency deteriorated by 1%–3% compared with the dry condition. The distribution of the static pressure coefficient on the blade surface is also changed, wherein the deviation degree at the tip region is greater than that at the hub region. Unfortunately, considering the limitations of the current water film models and computational methods, the water film formed on the tip region cannot be simulated. Therefore, the calculated results near the stall point are different from the experimental results. However, rough surface treatment can still be considered as a feasible method for evaluating the effects of water film on compressor performance.

Flow boiling of R1233zd(E) in a horizontal tube: Experiments, assessment and correlation for asymmetric annular flow

Flow boiling heat transfer and dry-out vapor quality data for the low-GWP refrigerant R1233zd(E) are presented in this paper. Tests have been performed in a single horizontal stainless steel tube with an internal diameter of 6.0 mm for the whole range of vapor qualities (from 0.008 to 0.977) by varying the mass flux from 147 to 300 kg/m2 s, the heat flux from 2.4 to 40.9 kW/m2 and the saturation temperature from 24.2 to 65.2 °C, corresponding to a reduced pressure range of 0.036–0.125.The assessment of some available predictive methods has been performed: the best ones for the heat transfer and the dry-out predictions are both by Wojtan et al. (2005). 68.3% of the data points are falling into an error band of ±30% for the heat transfer coefficients, while the MAE for the dry-out predictions is 14.4%.The range of operating conditions explored allowed to segregate the almost pure convective boiling results from those affected by nucleation. The effect of the non-uniform liquid film distribution along the perimeter has been related to the Froude vapor number: for FrV > 3 the pure convective boiling data are symmetric around the tube and the correlation of Cioncolini and Thome (2011) returns the best agreement (MAE = 25.4%). By using the local expression of the authors’ original model, a new equation has been developed in order to capture the experimental trend also for asymmetric flows. The corrected Cioncolini and Thome (2011) method provides an overall MAE of 7.40% when compared to the entire annular flow database of this paper.

Lowering Molecular Symmetry To Improve the Morphological Properties of the Hole-Transport Layer for Stable Perovskite Solar Cells.

Inspired by the structural feature of the classical hole-transport material (HTM), Spiro-OMeTAD, many analogues based on a highly symmetrical spiro-core were reported for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, these HTMs were prone to crystallize because of the high molecular symmetry, forming non-uniform films, unfavorable for the device stability and large-area processing. By lowering the symmetry of spiro-core, we report herein a novel spirobisindane-based HTM, Spiro-I, which could form amorphous films with high uniformity and morphological stability. Compared to the Spiro-OMeTAD-based PSCs, those containing Spiro-I exhibit similar efficiencies for small area but higher ones for large area (1 cm2 ), and especially much higher air stability (retaining 80 % of initial PCE after 2400 h storage without encapsulation). Moreover, the Spiro-I can be synthesized from a cheap starting material bisphenol A and used with a small amount for the device fabrication.

Process Optimization of through Silicon Vias Metallization Using Reduced Graphene Oxide As a Conductive Layer

Three-dimensional (3D) IC chip stacking has been proposed for a long time. An interposer designed between two chips for interconnection [i.e., through silicon vias (TSVs)] is a bridge for vertical signal transmission. Recently, reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) has also been developed because it not only is a good conductor, but also it can be grafted onto the surface of many substrates and makes them be conductive through rGO grafting process. TSV is a silicon-based substrate, so self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of amino-silane is usually used as an adhesive layer in the rGO grafting process, and it can form a thin film with positive charges, which can adsorb the functional groups of GO sheets due to charge attraction. After GO is grafted onto the surface, a chemical reducer is used to reduce the grafted GO to rGO. However, silane must be dissolved in an organic solvent for stabilization. Otherwise, it easily forms “islands” on the surface, which then cause non-uniform and discontinuous rGO film. In this work, deionized water was employed to replace the organic solvent to dissolve the amino-silane. Effects of operating parameters, surface treatments and modifications on rGO grafting performance were investigated to improve the uniformity and continuity of the grafted rGO using several analysis methods and instruments, like water contact angle, atomic force microscopy(AFM) and conductive atomic force microscopy(C-AFM), etc. Cross-section images of TSVs after copper and cobalt electroplating were also used to evaluate the filling performance and uniformity. Eventually, a stable and optimized aqueous rGO grafting process is developed and can be used as a conducting layer of TSV for copper and cobalt superfilling. Keywords: Through Silicon Via, Electroplating, reduced Graphene Oxide, 3D IC Reference: Songfeng, and C. Hui-Ming, “The Reduction of Graphene oxide ”, Carbon., 2012, 50, 3210-3228. Figure1. Scheme of the rGO grafting process. TSV was immersed in Beaker A for surface pre-treatment, surface modification with amino-silane was carried out in Beaker B, the GO grafting step was performed in Beaker C, and GO reduction was conducted in Beaker D. Figure 1

Friction-induced transfer of carbon quantum dots on the interface: Microscopic and spectroscopic studies on the role of inorganic–organic hybrid nanoparticles as multifunctional additive for enhanced lubrication

Abstract Inorganic–organic hybrid carbon quantum dots (CQDs) attached the structure of diphenylamine (DPA) on the surfaces (CQDs-N) have been successfully prepared by one-step pyrolysis method at lower temperature. The obtained N-doped carbon dots (CQDs-N) were spherical particles with a narrow size distribution exhibiting photoluminescent property, which are also proved to be an multifunctional additive exhibiting not only antioxidant but also antiwear and friction-reducing performances. Even tested under higher load, CQDs-N still exhibited superior friction-reducing performance till now in polyethylene glycol (PEG) for steel/steel pairs. The function of CQDs-N with polar nature, acting as bearing balls and depositing on the interface to form non-uniform protective film, might account for the excellent antiwear and friction-reducing performances under boundary lubrication.

Fabricating Reactive Surfaces with Brush-like and Crosslinked Films of Azlactone-Functionalized Block Co-Polymers.

In this paper, fabrication methods that generate novel surfaces using the azlactone-based block co-polymer, poly (glycidyl methacrylate)-block-poly (vinyl dimethyl azlactone) (PGMA-b-PVDMA), are presented. Due to the high reactivity of azlactone groups towards amine, thiol, and hydroxyl groups, PGMA-b-PVDMA surfaces can be modified with secondary molecules to create chemically or biologically functionalized interfaces for a variety of applications. Previous reports of patterned PGMA-b-PVDMA interfaces have used traditional top-down patterning techniques that generate non-uniform films and poorly controlled background chemistries. Here, we describe customized patterning techniques that enable precise deposition of highly uniform PGMA-b-PVDMA films in backgrounds that are chemically inert or that have biomolecule-repellent properties. Importantly, these methods are designed to deposit PGMA-b-PVDMA films in a manner that completely preserves azlactone functionality through each processing step. Patterned films show well-controlled thicknesses that correspond to polymer brushes (~90 nm) or to highly crosslinked structures (~1-10 μm). Brush patterns are generated using either the parylene lift-off or interface directed assembly methods described and are useful for precise modulation of overall chemical surface reactivity by adjusting either the PGMA-b-PVDMA pattern density or the length of the VDMA block. In contrast, the thick, crosslinked PGMA-b-PVDMA patterns are obtained using a customized micro-contact printing technique and offer the benefit of higher loading or capture of secondary material due to higher surface area to volume ratios. Detailed experimental steps, critical film characterizations, and trouble-shooting guides for each fabrication method are discussed.

Impact of magnetic fields on the morphology of hybrid perovskite films for solar cells

The impact of magnetic fields on the morphology of hybrid perovskite films is assessed via scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Small-grain non-uniform perovskite films are obtained when a large magnetic flux density is applied to the sample during reaction of PbI2 and methylammonium iodide (chloride). Similarly, X-ray diffraction reveals a change of preferential crystalline planes when large magnetic fields are applied. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate that the quality of the perovskite film is affected by the magnetic field induced by the magnetic stirring system of the hot plate where the samples are annealed. As a consequence, optimization of the perovskite layer varies with magnetic field and annealing temperature. Finally, we prove that uncontrolled magnetic fields on the environment of preparation can severely influence the reproducibility of results.

Synthesis and Characterization of Ag/TiO<sub>2</sub> Thin Film via Sol-Gel Method

Ag/TiO2thin films were prepared via sol-gel spin coating method. Structural, surface morphology and optical properties were investigated with the addition of two different amount of silver (Ag). X-ray diffraction pattern shows the sample with pure TiO2, the only phase presence was brookite TiO2. When the Ag content added into the solution, the phase existed for the samples with TiO2doped 0.5g Ag and TiO2doped 1.0g Ag were anatase TiO2with no peak corresponds to Ag phase. The surface morphology of film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The films were annealed at 450 °C and it shows non-uniform films. The films have a large flaky and cracks film which was attributed to surface tension between the film and the air during the drying process. When the solution of sol was added with Ag content, it shows the porous structure with flaky-crack films. With the increasing of the Ag content from 0.5g to 1.0g, the structure is more porous and it is good for the photocatalytic activity. The UV-Vis spectra shows that the film exhibits a low absorbance which was due to the substrate is inhomogeneously covered by the flaky-crack films.

Structural, morphological and optical properties of pulsed laser deposited ZnSe/ZnSeO3 thin films

The effect of varying laser pulses on structural, morphological and optical behavior of Pulsed Laser Deposited (PLD) ZnSe/ZnSeO3 thin films has been investigated. The films were grown by employing Excimer laser (100 mJ, 248 nm, 18 ns, 30 Hz) at various number of laser pulses i.e. 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 with elevated substrate temperature of 300 °C. One film was grown at Room Temperature (RT) by employing 3000 number of laser pulses. In order to investigate the structural analysis of deposited films, XRD analysis was performed. It was observed that the room temperature is not favorable for the growth of crystalline film. However, elevated substrate temperature to 300°C, two phases with preferred orientation of ZnSeO3 (2 1 2) and ZnSe (3 3 1) were identified. AFM and SEM analysis were performed to explore the surface morphology of grown films. Morphological analysis also confirmed the non-uniform film growth at room temperature. At elevated substrate temperature (300 °C), the growth of dendritic rods and cubical crystalline structures are observed for lower number of laser pulses i.e. 3000 and 4000 respectively. With increased number of pulses i.e. 5000 and 6000, the films surface morphology becomes smooth which is confirmed by measurement of surface RMS roughness. Number of grains, skewness, kurtosis and other parameters have been evaluated by statistical analysis. In order to investigate the thickness, and optical properties of deposited films, ellipsometery and UV–Vis spectroscopy techniques were employed. The estimated band gap energy is 2.67 eV for the film grown at RT, whereas band gap values varies from 2.80 eV to 3.01 eV for the films grown at 300 °C with increasing number of laser pulses.

Moisture barrier properties of single-layer graphene deposited on Cu films for Cu metallization

The moisture barrier properties of large-grain single-layer graphene (SLG) deposited on a Cu(111)/sapphire substrate are demonstrated by comparing with the bare Cu(111) surface under an accelerated degradation test (ADT) at 85 °C and 85% relative humidity (RH) for various durations. The change in surface color and the formation of Cu oxide are investigated by optical microscopy (OM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. First-principle simulation is performed to understand the mechanisms underlying the barrier properties of SLG against O diffusion. The correlation between Cu oxide thickness and SLG quality are also analyzed by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measured on a non-uniform SLG film. SLG with large grains shows high performance in preventing the Cu oxidation due to moisture during ADT.

SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATION OF GRAPHENE/SILVER NANOWIRES/GOLD NANOPARTICLES HYBRID FOR AMMONIA GAS SENSING

Graphene material synthesized from chemical method (reduced Graphene Oxide – rGO) is a promising candidate for gas sensors due to their unique properties. With structure of single layer of bonded sp2 carbons in a two-dimensional (2D) lattice, rGO have large surface to volume ratio, high conductivity and electron mobility at room temperature. Meanwhile, the different oxygen-containing functional groups (contain dangling bonds) decorated on carbon networks make rGO easily respond with compatible gas molecules. However, the investigating of structure of rGO in micrometer scale shows that the chemical method often results in non-uniform film thickness on substrate due to overlap of rGO sheets. These may disrupt the conductive paths in rGO films and decrease their conductivity. Therefore, gas sensing signal of pristine rGO based sensors is tarnished and the sensors do not recover to their baseline at room temperature. In this study, silver nanowires (AgNWs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are combined with rGO material to form rGO/AgNWs/AuNPs hybrid. With one-dimensional nanostructure, the AgNWs connects effectively together many rGO islands and reduce significantly their contact resistance so that NH3 sensing signal is improved and complete recovery of the sensor is nearly achieved at room temperature. Especially, all these signals are further enhanced when the AuNPs (diameter ~ 30 nm) are added into the hybrid.

A Postalignment Method for High-Mobility Organic Thin-Film Transistors

Efficient charge carrier transport in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) often requires thin films with highly oriented feature. Although there are a number of methods to effectively form high-degree and large-scale alignment during the process of film formation, these methods usually resulted in nonuniform films. In order to obtain highly aligned uniform films, this paper provides a postalignment method after film formation. By applying electric field during solvent annealing, the polymer backbone can be reorganized along the direction of the electric field, leading to highly aligned polymer chains and significant improvement in charge mobility. In addition, after doping the polymer films with liquid crystal (LC), with the benefit of LC molecules' template, the degree of orientation of polymer molecular chains was further enhanced, resulting in further improvement of the charge mobility up to 9.42 cm2·V <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> ·s <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> . This paper exhibits the possibility of improving charge transport after film formation to obtain high-performance solution-processable OTFT for low-cost and large-scale organic electronics.

Selection Role of Metal Oxides into Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers by a Direct Selenization Process.

Direct reduction of metal oxides into a few transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDCs) monolayers has been recently explored as an alternative method for large area and uniform deposition. However, not many studies have addressed the characteristics and requirement of the metal oxides into TMDCs by the selenization/sulfurization processes, yielding a wide range of outstanding properties to poor electrical characteristics with nonuniform films. The large difference implies that the process is yet not fully understood. In particular, the selenization/sulfurization at low temperature leads to poor crystallinity films with poor electrical performance, hindering its practical development. A common approach to improve the quality of the selenized/sulfurized films is by further increasing the process temperature, thus requiring additional transfer in order to explore the electrical properties. Here, we show that by finely tuning the quality of the predeposited oxide the selenization/sulfurization temperature can be largely decreased, avoiding major substrate damage and allowing direct device fabrication. The direct relationship between the role of selecting different metal oxides prepared by e-beam evaporation and reactive sputtering and their oxygen deficiency/vacancy leading to quality influence of TMDCs was investigated in detail. Because of its outstanding physical properties, the formation of tungsten diselenide (WSe2) from the reduction of tungsten oxide (WO x) was chosen as a model for proof of concept. By optimizing the process parameters and the selection of metal oxides, layered WSe2 films with controlled atomic thickness can be demonstrated. Interestingly, the domain size and electrical properties of the layered WSe2 films are highly affected by the quality of the metal oxides, for which the layered WSe2 film with small domains exhibits a metallic behavior and the layered WSe2 films with larger domains provides clear semiconducting behavior. Finally, an 8'' wafer scale-layered WSe2 film was demonstrated, giving a step forward in the development of 2D TMDC electronics in the industry.

Effect of Additives on the Microstructure of Electroplated Tin Films

Electroplated tin films are important for several technologies such as microelectronics, Li-ion batteries, and corrosion-resistant coatings. In this paper, we demonstrate that the microstructure of tin films can be precisely controlled by addition of certain combinations of organic additives to a methanesulfonic acid based electroplating bath. Tin films are deposited on a copper substrate by varying the concentrations of two such additives, namely, hydroquinone and gelatin. The plating process is characterized by linear sweep voltammetry and insights into the resulting microstructure are obtained using imaging by scanning electron microscopy. It is found that the addition of hydroquinone alone results in non-uniform tin films having significant dendrites and does not affect the hydrogen gas evolution during electroplating. The addition of gelatin alone is found to suppress the evolution of hydrogen gas and affects the film nucleation process that controls its grain morphology, but also creates pinholes in the film and sludge in the bath. A combination of the two additives, however, yields a highly uniform grain structure with little to no dendrite formation and a delayed onset of hydrogen gas evolution, which is highly desirable during the electroplating process. Experiments are carried out that show that the mechanism of tin film nucleation and growth during electroplating is altered in the presence of the additives, where gelatin suppresses the tin nucleation rate (thereby controlling the grain size) as well as the formation of large dendrites; while hydroquinone, acting as an antioxidant, prevents pinholes, creates a uniform film, and avoids sludge formation in the presence of gelatin. This work demonstrates a path to control electroplated tin microstructures by varying bath chemistries and process parameters which will prove highly useful to industry.