Hope College Physics Department
Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Summer 2012
Project Summary

 

Project Title: Electrodeposition and Characterization of Nickel, Iron, Copper Thin Films and the Creation of Nanoporous Structures
Student Name: Jonathan Yarranton
Student's Home Institution: Hope College
Research Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Hampton
Source of Support:

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF-RUI Grant No. DMR-1104725 and NSF-MRI Grant No. CHE-0959282.

There has been much research in creating nanoporous platinum or gold thin films for catalysis, but there has not been as much work done with other, less noble metals. This research explored the deposition of nickel, iron, and copper ternary alloys using controlled potential electrolysis (CPE) and the selective removal of the copper with DC potential amperometry (DCPA) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) to create nanoporous structures. These structures have the advantage of increased surface area creating more efficient catalysts. All films were characterized before and after dealloying using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) for composition. The roughness of each of the films was characterized by the capacitance of the film, with higher capacitances indicating a higher electrochemical surface area.

Publications and Presentations:

 

 

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