Role of polyethyleneimine as an additive in cyanide-free electrolytes for gold electrodeposition

Xuefeng Ren; Ying Song; Anmin Liu; Jie Zhang; Peixia Yang; Jinqiu Zhang; Guohui Yuan; Maozhong An; Hannah Osgood; Gang Wu

doi:10.1039/C5RA12217A

Role of polyethyleneimine as an additive in cyanide-free electrolytes for gold electrodeposition†

Xuefeng Ren,^a Ying Song,^a Anmin Liu,^a Jie Zhang,^a Peixia Yang,^a Jinqiu Zhang,^a Guohui Yuan,^a Maozhong An,*^a Hannah Osgood^b and Gang Wu*^b

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* Corresponding authors

^a State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
E-mail: mzan@hit.edu.cn
Fax: +86-451-86418616
Tel: +86-451-86418616

^b Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA
E-mail: gangwu@buffalo.edu

Abstract

The influence of polyethyleneimine (PEI) on the electrochemical behavior of cyanide-free electrolytes with 5,5-dimethylhydantoin (DMH) as a complexing agent was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry, and cathodic polarization measurements. The gold electrodeposition displayed three-dimensional (3-D) progressive nucleation in both the absence and presence of PEI according to the Scharifer and Hills (SH) nucleation model. With the addition of PEI, the cathodic overpotential showed an immense negative shift, and the limiting diffusion current density and the diffusion coefficient decreased. Gold electrodeposits were characterized by SEM and AFM for the micromorphology, XRD for the crystal structure, and XPS for the purity. There was preferential growth of gold crystals along the (111) crystal face in both the presence and absence of PEI, but overall growth was inhibited in the presence of PEI. The quality of the gold electrodeposit was significantly improved in the presence of PEI, with a bright golden color and high purity, smooth and compact morphology.

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Role of polyethyleneimine as an additive in cyanide-free electrolytes for gold electrodeposition†

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Role of polyethyleneimine as an additive in cyanide-free electrolytes for gold electrodeposition

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