Concerted Electrodeposition and Alloying of Antimony on Indium Electrodes for Selective Formation of Crystalline Indium Antimonide

Abstract

The direct preparation of crystalline indium antimonide (InSb) by the electrodeposition of antimony (Sb) onto indium (In) working electrodes has been demonstrated. When Sb is electrodeposited from dilute aqueous electrolytes containing dissolved SbO, an alloying reaction is possible between Sb and In if any surface oxide films are first thoroughly removed from the electrode. The presented Raman spectra detail the interplay between the formation of crystalline InSb and the accumulation of Sb as either amorphous or crystalline aggregates on the electrode surface as a function of time, temperature, potential, and electrolyte composition. Electron and optical microscopies confirm that under a range of conditions, the preparation of a uniform and phase-pure InSb film is possible. The cumulative results highlight this methodology as a simple yet potent strategy for the synthesis of intermetallic compounds of interest.

Electrodeposition of Pd Intermetallics using Hg-In by the Electrochemical Liquid-Liquid-Solid Method

“…First, on a clean In electrode devoid of a native oxide, atop In atoms react readily with electrodeposited metals. Similar to what was previously observed for the controlled formation of InSb 55 and InAs 56 by electrodeposition, the results reported here indicate clear formation of a crystalline In intermetallic compound upon Pd electrodeposition. Second, the sole identifiable product in these control experiments is Pd 3 In 7 .…”

Rapid Synthesis of AxWO3 (A = H, Na, K) Tungsten Bronze Materials with Strong Near‐Infrared Absorption and Enhanced Photoelectric Anticorrosion Properties

“…[13,14] TBs have attracted worldwide attention due to their unique chemical, electrochemical, and electronic properties, and they have found applications in photovoltaic devices, [15] sensors, [16] and NIR solar cells, [17] among others. Given that excellent TBs have low transmittance in the NIR range and high transmittance in the visible range, [18] nano-TBs were identified as potential NIR radiation shielding materials, [19] especially when compared to current benchmark materials, including lanthanum hexaboride (LaB 6 ), [20] indium or antimony doped tin oxide (In-SnO 2 , Sb-SnO 2 ), [21,22] where nano-TBs can be used as additives at low concentrations to improve the NIR shielding performance of coatings significantly. In addition, K. Adachi et al synthesized Na 0.33 WO 3 and found its significant NIR absorption effect.…”

Benchtop Electrochemical Growth and Controlled Alloying of Polycrystalline InxGa1–xAs Thin Films

“…Currently, established deposition processes for growing high-quality crystalline GaAs and In x Ga 1– x As include molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy (OMVPE), liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE), and other methods that require high-cost and high-energy growth setups and the use of toxic precursors, ultrahigh vacuum, and extreme temperatures during growth. − Conventional electrodeposition is an alternative growth method that eliminates the necessity of high-cost experimental setups, hazardous precursors, or extreme pressures but faces other obstacles that lead to impurity contamination from the electrolyte solution and amorphous growth without subsequent annealing at temperatures above 250 °C. − The growth method implemented in this research is known as the electrochemical liquid–liquid–solid (ec-LLS) process, which overcomes obstacles to crystalline growth typically faced by electrochemical methods by utilizing a liquid metal electrode of a select composition to perform the electroreduction of compounds in solution and serve as a platform for semiconductor growth . Several recent studies have shown evidence of the ec-LLS growth of crystalline semiconductor thin films achieved at ambient pressure and near-room temperature via benchtop growth setups. − …”