Enhanced manganese electrodeposition through chaotic switching modulation using a single-transistor oscillator

Manganese electrodeposition consumes considerable amounts of energy. Recent work indicates that chaotic driving may improve efficiency and product quality. However, only small-scale experiments have been conducted, and amplifying broadband analog signals efficiently introduces circuit complexity and cost challenges. Here, we demonstrate driving this process using a highly elementary chaotic circuit comprising a single transistor while amplifying its output using a low-frequency on-off switch, ideally suited for scaling up to large currents. After illustrating the operating principles and properties of the generated signals, representative experimental measurements from a laboratory-scale cell are given. Compared to direct current, chaotic modulation resulted in remarkable product quality and process efficiency improvements, stemming from reduced formation of undesired nodules and dendrites. On the one hand, the area affected by these structures was lowered by 59% (40% compared to periodic current in an overlapping frequency range), while a four-fold increase was observed in the thickness of the deposited metal over the area not significantly affected by their formation (two-fold with respect to periodic current). On the other hand, the current efficiency was elevated by 5%, and the specific energy consumption was reduced by 8.3% (3.6% and 4.7% with respect to periodic current). The advantages exceed previous work in this area and go along with removing the issues associated with amplifying an analog signal at high power. The proposed scheme appears well-suited for deployment in manganese production, and the results exemplify the potential of elementary chaotic circuits for optimizing chemical reactions and other physical processes.