Effect of glycerol addition on copper electrodeposition on steel substrate

This work investigates the effect of the addition of glycerol on the microstructure, corrosion resistance, and efficiency of the electrodeposition process of Cu coating in an acid sulphate solution. The morphology and microstructures of electrodeposits were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Spectrometry X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). Evaluation of the corrosion resistance was performed in 2.0 mol⋅L^-1 NaCl by means of weight loss tests and electrochemical techniques. The addition of glycerol resulted in a decrease in grain and crystallite sizes, a decrease in roughness and an increase in the tensile strain of the coating. The deposition efficiency and the corrosion resistance increased with the addition of glycerol exhibiting a maximum value at the concentration of 0.42 mol⋅L^-1, increasing the efficiency of electrodeposition by approximately 96%. This is related to the roughness of the coating, which is minimal at this concentration. (author)