Pulsed Current Plating Does Not Improve Microscale Current Distribution Uniformity Compared to Direct Current Plating at Equivalent Time-Averaged Plating Rates

Abstract

Suppression of surface roughness and dendrite growth under pulsed current (p.c.) plating is a widely reported effect for a variety of electrodeposited metals. Often, this effect is attributed to the modulation of mass transport during pulsing. In the present contribution, we use numerical simulations and scaling analysis to shed light on the transient mass transport effects near a 2D microscale pattern subjected to p.c. plating. Specifically, we compare the microscale current distribution during p.c. to that during direct current (d.c.) plating at an equivalent time-averaged plating rate. Modeling shows that the more uniform current distribution for a given time-averaged plating rate is that obtained during d.c. plating. The current distribution during p.c. plating is found to be less uniform in comparison to d.c., and the mechanistic rationale underlying this effect is explained using scaling analysis. Results reported herein have implications to the understanding of pulsed currents in applications ranging from thin-film electroplating to battery charging.

A Novel Strategy of Combined Pulsed Electro-Oxidation and Electrolysis for Degradation of Sulfadiazine

“…When the pulse "on" condition ended, the pulse "off" condition provide diffusion mass transfer near the electrode surface (Table S8). At this time, the concentration gradient of the electrode surface slowed down, completing the reactant supplement and reducing the influence of the electrode surface concentration polarization [26,27,33,34,45].…”

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Current Density on the Anomalous Codeposition of Ternary Fe-Co-Ni Alloy Coatings

“…Manzano et al [ 26 ] explored the potential application of electrodeposition in complex geometries and various dimensions and built a three-dimensional model using COMSOL. On the basis of a two-dimensional numerical model, Maraschky et al [ 27 ] compared the degree of coating uniformity electrodeposited by pulsed current and direct current. Yang et al [ 28 ] optimized the layouts of anodes and cathodes to achieve electrodeposition thickness uniformity through numerical simulation and experiments.…”

Effect of Major Factors on Lithium Dendrite Growth Studied by Phase Field Modeling

“…8,14 As a result, strategies for effectively regulating lithium deposition and inhibiting dendrite growth have been extensively studied, and various methods for inhibiting dendrite growth have been proposed, including adopting electrolyte additives, [15][16][17][18] modified separators/ artificial protective layers, [19][20][21][22][23] solid-state electrolytes [24][25][26][27] and anodes with specially designed structures [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] as well as augmenting charging protocols of pulse current. [36][37][38] In addition to strategies for characterizing and inhibiting dendrite growth, mechanistic understanding and mathematical model interpretation of lithium dendrite growth are also needed to solve the dendrite problem and obtain safe and efficient LMBs. Many models and theories have been proposed to describe the formation and early growth of dendrite, including Wranglen theory, 39 Kim and Jorne theory, 40 Bockris and Barton model, 41 Chazalviel model, 42 Akolkar model 43 and Monroe and Newman model, 44 et al Besides, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method 38,45,46 has been proposed to study lithium deposition in batteries.…”