Influence of cathodic current density and mechanical stirring on the electrodeposition of Cu-Co alloys in citrate bath

Abstract

Cathodic polarization curves of Cu-Co alloys were galvanostatically obtained on a platinum net, using electrolytes containing copper and cobalt sulfates, sodium citrate and boric acid (pH values ranging from 4.88 to 6.00), with different mechanical stirring conditions. In order to evaluate quantitatively the influence of the applied current density and the mechanical stirring on the cathodic efficiency, the alloy composition for the Cu-Co alloy deposition process, and the average deposition potential, an experimental central composite design 2² was employed, and three current density intervals (0.11 to 0.60, 0.50 to 1.98 and 2.44 to 9.94 mA.cm-2) were chosen from the polarization curves for this purpose. The results indicated that the current density (mainly in the range between 0.11 and 0.60 mA.cm-2) affected significantly all the studied variables. In the intermediate range (0.50 to 1.98 mA.cm-2), only the average potential was influenced by the current density. On the other hand, the mechanical stirring had a significant effect only on the copper content, for both the lowest (0.11 to 0.60 mA.cm-2) and the highest current density range (2.44 to 9.94 mA.cm-2). Indeed, in the last range, none of the studied deposition parameters presented significant influence on the studied variables, except for the copper content. This could probably be explained by the direct incorporation of Cu-Citrate complexes in the coating, which was enhanced at high current values.