Electrochemical Underpotential Co-deposition of Binary and Ternary Alloys: Towards a Novel Manufacturing Technology

这笔赠款提供资金，用于探索用于形成合金膜的新型电化学工艺的优势和根本局限性，目的是评估其作为一种实用制造技术的可行性。该过程利用合金形成时释放的能量来预测获得具有预定成分和结构的薄膜的条件。理论上，这一过程提供了对材料形成的完全控制，但在制造环境中，由于需要达到足够快的生产率，这种方法的预测能力受到限制。因此，用一组二元合金进行的实验将量化实际生产率将如何以及在多大程度上影响理论预测，理想地提供修正条件，使人们能够在实际制造条件下保持过程控制。快速的生产速度也阻碍了对技术感兴趣的复杂晶体结构的直接合成；因此，将通过调整合成条件来研究这种结构的形成，以抑制替代结构的形成。最后，这一过程将扩展到由三种元素组成的合金材料。如果成功，这项研究的结果将强烈影响当前利用合金薄膜制造工艺的实践，特别是微加工工艺，为合成新材料提供一种稳健而精确的方法，使用具有低成本和低能量影响的程序。特别是，将提供形成铂和钯合金的新工艺，这可能会在磁性或能量转换设备中提供更好的性能。其他潜在的好处包括简化当前的制造工艺，以及开发新的设备概念，这些概念可能会利用通过这项研究获得的材料。

This grant provides funding to explore the advantages and investigate the fundamental limitations of a novel electrochemical process for alloy film formation, with the objective to assess its viability as a practical manufacturing technology. This process exploits the energy released upon alloy formation to predict the conditions under which a film with a predetermined composition and structure is obtained. Theoretically, this process provides complete control over material formation, but in manufacturing environments the predictive capabilities of this method are limited by the need to achieve sufficiently fast production rates. Experiments with a set of binary alloys will therefore quantify how and to what extent practical production rates will affect the theoretical predictions, ideally providing correction terms that will enable one to maintain process control under practical manufacturing conditions. Fast production rates also hinder the direct synthesis of complex crystal structures of technological interest; formation of such structures will be therefore investigated by tailoring the synthesis conditions, to inhibit the formation of alternative structures. Finally, this process will be extended to alloy materials composed of three elements.If successful, the results of this research will strongly impact current practices in manufacturing processes utilizing alloy films, in particular microfabrication processes, by providing a robust and precise method for the synthesis of new materials, using procedures characterized by low cost and low energetic impact. In particular, new processes for the formation of platinum- and palladium-based alloys will be made available, which may provide enhanced performance in magnetic or energy conversion devices. Other potential benefits include a simplification of current manufacturing processes and the development of new device concepts that may exploit materials made available through this research.