Stable, quasi-stable and unstable physicochemical hydrodynamic flows in thin-layer cell electrodeposition

Coupling between Buoyancy Forces and Electroconvective Instability near Ion-Selective Surfaces

Recent investigations have revealed that ion transport from aqueous electrolytes to ion-selective surfaces is subject to electroconvective instability that stems from coupling of hydrodynamics with electrostatic forces. These systems inherently involve fluid density variation set by salinity gradients. However, the coupling between the buoyancy effects and electroconvective instability has not yet been investigated although a wide range of electrochemical systems are naturally prone to these interplaying effects. In this study we thoroughly examine the interplay of gravitational convection and chaotic electroconvection. Our results reveal that buoyant forces can significantly influence the transport rates, otherwise set by electroconvection, when the Rayleigh number Ra of the system exceeds a value Ra∼1000. We show that buoyancy forces can significantly alter the flow patterns in these systems. When the buoyancy acts in the stabilizing direction, it limits the extent of penetration of electroconvection, but without eliminating it. When the buoyancy destabilizes the flow, it alters the electroconvective patterns by introducing upward and downward fingers of respectively light and heavy fluids.

Nature of inclined growth in thin-layer electrodeposition under uniform magnetic fields

Electrochemical deposition (ECD) in thin cells in a vertical position relative to gravity, subject to an external uniform magnetic field, yields a growth pattern formation with dense branched morphology with branches tilted in the direction of the magnetic force. We study the nature of the inclined growth through experiments and theory. Experiments in ECD, in the absence of magnetic forces, reveal that a branch grows by allowing fluid to penetrate its tip and to be ejected from the sides through a pair of symmetric vortices attached to the tip. The upper vortices zone defines an arch separating an inner zone ion depleted and an outer zone in a funnel-like form with a concentrated solution through which metal ions are carried into the tip. When a magnetic field is turned on, vortex symmetry is broken, one vortex becoming weaker than the other, inducing an inclination of the funnel. Consequently, particles entering the funnel give rise to branch growth tilted in the same direction. Theory predicts, in the absence of a magnetic force, funnel symmetry induced through symmetric vortices driven by electric and gravitational forces; when the magnetic force is on, it is composed with the pair of clockwise and counterclockwise vortices, reducing or amplifying one or the other. In turn, funnel tilting modifies particle trajectories, thus, growth orientation.

Transition between two dendritic growth mechanisms in electrodeposition

We report in this paper the observation of a transition between two different dendritic growth mechanisms in the electrodeposition of a metal from a binary electrolyte. Our results, in particular concerning the dendritic growth velocities, enable us to explain this behavior in terms of models previously proposed in the literature.