Zinc deposition on copper surfaces is being studied before, mostly as a model system to understand film formation but more recently also in the context of catalysis or Zn batteries [1]. Electrochemical deposition of zinc on copper enables to obtain different ratios of Cu and Zn in the deposit alloy layers [2]. Zn electrodeposition on Cu surfaces can be monitored by in-situ Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and allows to follow the initial growth of Zn on different copper surfaces [3,4]. In this work, we pretreated different textured polycrystalline Cu surfaces by chemical etching and electropolishing to modify and improve the surface quality. Surfaces are then pre-characterized by AFM, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD). The local surface morphology is changed after the different surface pretreatments. In-situ AFM measurements of Zn electrodeposition were performed on as-received as well as pretreated Cu surfaces and monitored the initiation of Zn deposition in real time (Figure 1). Deposition of Zn on Cu surfaces critically depends on the Cu surface morphology and specific surface orientations. For applications, the surface morphology of the Zn deposition may play a critical role in controlling the performance of the films.

References:

[1] T. Otani et al Electrochem. Acta 242 (2017) 364-372

[2] F.Jia et al, J. Phys. Chem. 111 (2007) 8424-8431

[3] L. N. Poloni et al Chem.Matter . 29 (2017) 331−345

[4] S. Xu et al, J. Phys. Chem. 121 (2017) 3938−3946