Underpotential alloy formation in the system Ag(hkl)/Cd2+

Scalable Fabrication of Nanostructured Tin Oxide Anodes for High-Energy Lithium-Ion Batteries

Although tin and tin oxides have been considered very promising anode materials for future high-energy lithium-ion batteries due to high theoretical capacity and low cost, the development of commercial anodes falls short of expectations. This is due to several challenging issues related to a massive volume expansion during operation. Nanostructured electrodes can accommodate the volume expansion but typically suffer from cumbersome synthesis routes and associated problems regarding scalability and cost efficiency, preventing their commercialization. Herein, a facile, easily scalable, and highly cost-efficient fabrication route is proposed based on electroplating and subsequent electrolytic oxidation of tin, resulting in additive-free tin oxide anodes for lithium-ion batteries. The electrodes prepared accordingly exhibit excellent performance in terms of gravimetric and volumetric capacity as well as promising cycle life and rate capability, making them suitable for future high-energy lithium-ion batteries.

Nanoscale electrodeposition of low-dimensional metal phases and clusters

The present status of the problem of electrochemical formation of low-dimensional metal phases is reviewed. The progress in this field achieved in the last two decades is discussed on the basis of experimental results obtained in selected electrochemical systems with well defined single crystal substrates. The influence of crystallographic orientation and surface inhomogeneities of foreign substrates on the mechanism of formation and the atomic structure of two-dimensional (2D) metal phases in the underpotential deposition range is considered. The localized electrodeposition of metal nanoclusters on solid state surfaces applying the STM-tip as a nanoelectrode is demonstrated.

Selective electrodesorption based atomic layer deposition (SEBALD): a novel electrochemical route to deposit metal clusters on Ag(111)

The possibility of synergic effects of some metals on the catalytic activity of silver led us to study the way to perform controlled deposition on silver. In fact, many metals of technological interest such as Co, Ni, and Fe cannot be deposited at underpotential on silver, and any attempt to control the deposition at overpotential, even at potentials slightly negative of the Nernst value, did not allow an effective control. However, due to the favorable energy gain involved in the formation of the corresponding sulfides, these metals can be deposited at underpotential on sulfur covered silver. The deposition is surface limited and the successive electrodesorption of sulfur leaves confined clusters of metals. The method can also be used to obtain metal clusters of different size. In fact, the alternate underpotential deposition of elements that form a compound is the basis of the electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy (ECALE), and the reiteration of the basic cycle allows us to obtain sulfide deposits whose thickness increases with the number of cycles. Therefore, the successive selective desorption of sulfur leaves increasing amounts of metals.

Processes of adsorption/desorption of iodide anions and cadmium cations onto/from Ag(111)

In this work, the adsorption/desorption processes of iodide anions and cadmium cations in the presence of iodide anions onto/from Ag(111) were investigated. It was shown that both processes were complex, characterized by several peaks on the cyclic voltammograms (CVs). By PeakFit analysis of the recorded CVs and subsequent fitting of the obtained peaks by the Frumkin adsorption isotherm, the interaction parameter (f) and the Gibbs energy of adsorption (?G?ads) for each adsorbed phase were determined. In the case of iodide adsorption, four peaks were characterized by negative values of f, indicating attractive lateral interaction between the adsorbed anions, while two of them possessed value of f < -4, indicating phase transition processes. The adsorption/desorption processes of cadmium cations (underpotential deposition - UPD of cadmium) in the presence of iodide anions was characterized by two main peaks, each of them being composed of two or three peaks with negative values of f. By the analysis of charge vs. potential dependences obtained either from the CVs or current transients on potentiostatic pulses, it was concluded that adsorbed iodide anions did not undergo desorption during the process of Cd UPD, but became replaced by Cd ad-atoms and remained adsorbed on top of a Cd layer and/or in between Cd the ad-atoms.

In situ STM investigation of spinodal decomposition and surface alloying during underpotential deposition of Cd on Au(111) from an ionic liquid

The electrodeposition and anodic dissolution of Cd on Au(111) in an acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquid (MBIC-AlCl(3), 42 : 58 mol%) have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and in situ STM. In the Cd underpotential deposition region, various nanostructures can be distinguished. At a potential of 0.95 V vs. Al/Al(iii), a transformation from a well ordered AlCl(4)(-) adlayer to a ( radical3 x radical19) superstructure, presumably due to Cd-AlCl(4)(-) coadsorption, is observed. Reducing the potential to 0.45 V, surface alloying of Cd and Au occurs, which is evidenced for the first time by typical spinodal structures occurring both during deposition and dissolution of the surface alloy layer having a hexagonal structure. At still lower potentials below 0.21 V, a layer-by-layer growth of bulk Cd sets in.