The mechanism involved in the codeposition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with copper from an acid copper sulfate bath was investigated. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were employed and dispersed using polyacrylic acid. To determine the influence of the fibrous shape of the MWCNTs, codeposition was also carried out using copper and granular carbon black (CB). The effect of the polyacrylic acid on the dispersibility of MWCNTs and CB in the plating baths and the electrodeposition behavior of copper was investigated. In addition, the relationship between the initial MWCNT or CB concentration in the plating bath and that in the composite films was evaluated and the results are discussed based on the two-step adsorption model of Guglielmi. It was found that although for low MWCNT concentrations in the plating bath, this model could adequately explain the codeposition behavior, at higher concentrations, the MWCNT content in the deposit was larger than expected. It is suggested that the increased MWCNT content is related to the fibrous shape of the MWCNTs. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) 1,2 have excellent mechanical characteristics, such as high tensile strength and elastic modulus, and exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivities. Recently, the fabrication of various metal/CNT composites, which are expected to be promising functional materials, has been attempted using plating techniques, and in particular, composite plating.
3-11The composite plating technique that was first reported by Sauter 12 can produce metal films with a variety of functions, and has thus been widely researched for the fabrication of functional materials. However, practical applications of this technology have been limited to a few cases. Therefore, to increase the range of applications of CNT and other composite plating techniques, elucidation of the mechanism involved in the codeposition of particles with a metal is very important. There have been several reports on the kinetics and mechanism involved during composite plating using electrodeposition. Snaith and Groves first proposed the occurrence of mechanical bonding between a metal matrix and ceramic particles. 13 Guglielmi developed a rate equation based on a two-step adsorption model.14 Celis and Roos proposed that the particle codeposition rate is determined by the reduction rate of metal ions that are adsorbed on the particles. 15 Forester reported a codeposition mechanism based on the zeta potential. 16 Hayashi et al. proposed that the amount of metal ions adsorbed on particles has an important influence on the codeposition behavior.17 Roos and coworkers also developed a mathematical model for codeposition. 18,19 In all of these studies on the codeposition mechanism, hydrophilic granular particles such as alumina were used without dispersing agents. In contrast, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are hydrophobic and have fibrous shapes, and may therefore be expected to behave differently during the codeposition process. To clarify the mechanism involved in the codeposition of MWC...