Electrochemistry in supercritical carbon dioxide-acetonitrile mixtures

• Main Author: Perdjon-Abel, Magda
• Other Authors: Bartlett, Philip
• Published: University of Southampton 2012
• Subjects: 543.4; QD Chemistry
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.577246

The aim of this work was to investigate the possibility of controlled bottom-up electrodeposition of metals into nano dimensional spaces from supercritical fluids. Initially, it was necessary to choose a solvent or a mixture of solvents that would be a suitable base for an electrolyte solution. This was followed by the choice of supporting electrolytes and metal precursors. An attempt to find an appropriate reference electrode or an internal reference probe was also made. Cyclic voltammetry with microelectrodes was used to study the supercritical systems with metal complexes prior to the electrodeposition experiments. The most suitable metal (silver and copper) complexes were employed in the electrodeposition of metal films on flat electrodes. This was followed by electrodeposition into templated substrates, namely aluminium oxide membranes (20-400 nm diameter cylindrical pores) and hexagonal mesoporous silica thin films (3-5 nm diameter pores). The first nanowires produced in homogenous supercritical fluids are reported.