Transient Electrochemical Processes During Cu-Ni Deposition

SUMMARYRecent investigations on nanostructured metal multilayers have shown that interfaces between each bi-layer can affect the properties of a multilayer. Transient current and potential data after the application of a potential step or a current step, respectively, during the codeposition of copper and nickel from a citrate electrolyte have been investigated. It has been found that on the application of a current step only copper is reduced at first, followed by the deposition of a copper-nickel alloy. Once the current is switched off, nickel (or a nickel-rich) alloy is dissolved from the deposit due to displacement by copper. Transient potentials and steady-state polarisation data can be used to determine the amount of nickel dissolved from a deposit.