Ionic Liquids: Solvents for the Electrodeposition of Metals and Semiconductors

Abstract

In a wider sense, ionic liquids are molten salts that melt below 100 °C. As their name suggests, they are solely composed of ions and many combinations of organic and/or inorganic cations and anions exist. Depending on the systems they can reach electrochemical windows of more than 4 V and thus they give access to a number of elements that cannot be electrodeposited from aqueous solutions, such as the light and refractory metals, as well as elemental and compound semiconductors. Presumably, ionic liquids will become important for electrochemical nanotechnology.

Morphological dependence of silver electrodeposits investigated by changing the ionic liquid solvent and the deposition parameters

“…1b, no electrochemical process appears in the selected range used for the background voltammogram (dashed line). The voltammetric peak profile of AgTfO in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] (solid curve in Fig. 1b) is consistent with the expectation for metal deposition and stripping from an electrode surface (peaks a and b), similar to the behaviour shown in Fig.…”

“…The XRD pattern obtained by Ag electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] revealed a more intense (111) signal compared to [EMIM]TfO. This suggests that the Ag layer electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] is more oriented, as previously observed for the dendrite and columnar bar structures obtained by using this IL (Fig.…”

“…The voltammetric data obtained for both systems show that silver electrodeposition is a diffusion-controlled process. These data also show that Ag + ions have higher mobility in [EMIM]TfO than in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ], which can be related to their viscosity and/or to the stronger interaction of Ag + with HSO 4 À than with TfO, as shown by MD simulations. The determination of the diffusion coefficient values for complex systems is indispensable to chemical research and by the methodology presented here it was possible to observe that the simulations results are in good agreement with the experimental results.…”

Morphological dependence of silver electrodeposits investigated by changing the ionic liquid solvent and the deposition parameters

“…1b, no electrochemical process appears in the selected range used for the background voltammogram (dashed line). The voltammetric peak profile of AgTfO in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] (solid curve in Fig. 1b) is consistent with the expectation for metal deposition and stripping from an electrode surface (peaks a and b), similar to the behaviour shown in Fig.…”

“…The XRD pattern obtained by Ag electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] revealed a more intense (111) signal compared to [EMIM]TfO. This suggests that the Ag layer electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] is more oriented, as previously observed for the dendrite and columnar bar structures obtained by using this IL (Fig.…”

“…The voltammetric data obtained for both systems show that silver electrodeposition is a diffusion-controlled process. These data also show that Ag + ions have higher mobility in [EMIM]TfO than in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ], which can be related to their viscosity and/or to the stronger interaction of Ag + with HSO 4 À than with TfO, as shown by MD simulations. The determination of the diffusion coefficient values for complex systems is indispensable to chemical research and by the methodology presented here it was possible to observe that the simulations results are in good agreement with the experimental results.…”

Thin Tantalum Film Electrodeposition from an Ionic Liquid—Influence of Substrate Nature, Electrolyte Temperature and Electrochemical Parameters on Deposits’ Quality

“…30 This last phenomenon of complexes reduction was assumed first by Endres group. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Interestingly, the electro-reduction process in not reversible under the studied experimental conditions. No oxidation peak was detected in the potential reverse scan.…”

Physicochemical properties of [C n mim][TFA] (n = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) ionic liquids

“…As green environmentally friendly solvents, ILs are considered to be the best alternative to traditional solvents. [1][2][3][4][5] The predicted results for the physicochemical properties of ILs were not fully consistent with the literature values, but the level of agreement is sufficient as reference data to select the ionic liquids for industry applications. [6][7][8][9] As a continuation of our previous study, [10][11][12][13] and to expand our knowledge on IL chemistry, we synthesized a new series of ILs, namely, [C n mim][TFA] (n ¼ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) (1-alkyl-3methylimidazolium triuoroacetate), and then measured their density, surface tension and refractive index in the temperature range of 293.15 to 343.15 K, at intervals of 5 K. Several important physical parameters, discussed in this article, were also estimated by semi-empirical methods.…”

Morphological dependence of silver electrodeposits investigated by changing the ionic liquid solvent and the deposition parameters

“…1b, no electrochemical process appears in the selected range used for the background voltammogram (dashed line). The voltammetric peak profile of AgTfO in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] (solid curve in Fig. 1b) is consistent with the expectation for metal deposition and stripping from an electrode surface (peaks a and b), similar to the behaviour shown in Fig.…”

“…The XRD pattern obtained by Ag electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] revealed a more intense (111) signal compared to [EMIM]TfO. This suggests that the Ag layer electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] is more oriented, as previously observed for the dendrite and columnar bar structures obtained by using this IL (Fig.…”

“…The voltammetric data obtained for both systems show that silver electrodeposition is a diffusion-controlled process. These data also show that Ag + ions have higher mobility in [EMIM]TfO than in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ], which can be related to their viscosity and/or to the stronger interaction of Ag + with HSO 4 À than with TfO, as shown by MD simulations. The determination of the diffusion coefficient values for complex systems is indispensable to chemical research and by the methodology presented here it was possible to observe that the simulations results are in good agreement with the experimental results.…”

Thin Tantalum Film Electrodeposition from an Ionic Liquid—Influence of Substrate Nature, Electrolyte Temperature and Electrochemical Parameters on Deposits’ Quality

“…30 This last phenomenon of complexes reduction was assumed first by Endres group. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Interestingly, the electro-reduction process in not reversible under the studied experimental conditions. No oxidation peak was detected in the potential reverse scan.…”

Physicochemical properties of [C n mim][TFA] (n = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) ionic liquids

“…As green environmentally friendly solvents, ILs are considered to be the best alternative to traditional solvents. [1][2][3][4][5] The predicted results for the physicochemical properties of ILs were not fully consistent with the literature values, but the level of agreement is sufficient as reference data to select the ionic liquids for industry applications. [6][7][8][9] As a continuation of our previous study, [10][11][12][13] and to expand our knowledge on IL chemistry, we synthesized a new series of ILs, namely, [C n mim][TFA] (n ¼ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) (1-alkyl-3methylimidazolium triuoroacetate), and then measured their density, surface tension and refractive index in the temperature range of 293.15 to 343.15 K, at intervals of 5 K. Several important physical parameters, discussed in this article, were also estimated by semi-empirical methods.…”

Morphological dependence of silver electrodeposits investigated by changing the ionic liquid solvent and the deposition parameters

“…1b, no electrochemical process appears in the selected range used for the background voltammogram (dashed line). The voltammetric peak profile of AgTfO in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] (solid curve in Fig. 1b) is consistent with the expectation for metal deposition and stripping from an electrode surface (peaks a and b), similar to the behaviour shown in Fig.…”

“…The XRD pattern obtained by Ag electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] revealed a more intense (111) signal compared to [EMIM]TfO. This suggests that the Ag layer electrodeposited from [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ] is more oriented, as previously observed for the dendrite and columnar bar structures obtained by using this IL (Fig.…”

“…The voltammetric data obtained for both systems show that silver electrodeposition is a diffusion-controlled process. These data also show that Ag + ions have higher mobility in [EMIM]TfO than in [HMIM + ][HSO 4 À ], which can be related to their viscosity and/or to the stronger interaction of Ag + with HSO 4 À than with TfO, as shown by MD simulations. The determination of the diffusion coefficient values for complex systems is indispensable to chemical research and by the methodology presented here it was possible to observe that the simulations results are in good agreement with the experimental results.…”

Thin Tantalum Film Electrodeposition from an Ionic Liquid—Influence of Substrate Nature, Electrolyte Temperature and Electrochemical Parameters on Deposits’ Quality

“…30 This last phenomenon of complexes reduction was assumed first by Endres group. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Interestingly, the electro-reduction process in not reversible under the studied experimental conditions. No oxidation peak was detected in the potential reverse scan.…”

Physicochemical properties of [C n mim][TFA] (n = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) ionic liquids

“…As green environmentally friendly solvents, ILs are considered to be the best alternative to traditional solvents. [1][2][3][4][5] The predicted results for the physicochemical properties of ILs were not fully consistent with the literature values, but the level of agreement is sufficient as reference data to select the ionic liquids for industry applications. [6][7][8][9] As a continuation of our previous study, [10][11][12][13] and to expand our knowledge on IL chemistry, we synthesized a new series of ILs, namely, [C n mim][TFA] (n ¼ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) (1-alkyl-3methylimidazolium triuoroacetate), and then measured their density, surface tension and refractive index in the temperature range of 293.15 to 343.15 K, at intervals of 5 K. Several important physical parameters, discussed in this article, were also estimated by semi-empirical methods.…”