Chronopotentiometry-driven electrodeposition of Cu–Ni–W thin films on indium tin oxide substrates: a comprehensive study of microstructure and corrosion behaviour
摘要
Cu–Ni–W thin films were deposited by varying the current density from –5 to –60 mA cm–2 using the galvanostatic chronopotentiogram method on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that Cu–Ni–W thin films exhibited face-centered cubic structures with the presence of specific crystallographic planes, particularly (111), (200) and (220) at 2θ values of 43.4°, 50.7° and 74.7°, respectively. The additional peaks observed at other 2θ values correspond to the NiW and Ni4W phases. The scanning electron microscopy micrographs of the films demonstrated a uniform structure characterized by a compact and dense morphology. The surface of the films displayed a metallic lustre attributed to the presence of Cu, Ni and W. The cross-sectional micrographs of the films indicated an average thickness of 1.1 to 1.2 µm. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis have shown that an increase in deposition current density leads to a rise in the relative concentration of Ni and W within the films, whereas the concentration of Cu decreased. The XPS survey spectrum also confirmed the presence of metallic Cu, Ni and W in the deposits. It was found that film deposited at higher current densities favours the growth of a smaller crystalline size of 17 nm and a higher degree of texture coefficient of 2.48. The maximum micro-strain of approximately 16% was calculated from the peak broadening of the X-ray diffractograms. The strong (111) texture and nano-crystallites as confirmed by XRD, resulted in an outstanding corrosion resistance of 16.22 kΩ-cm2 for the film deposited at –60 mA cm–2.