Initial stages of the copper electrocrystallization from a sulfuric acid electrolyte: Chronoamperometry at a platinum ring-disk electrode

Initial stages of the copper electrocrystallization on platinum from a sulfuric acid electrolyte are studied by measuring potentiostatic current transients (the chronoamperometry method) on a rotating and stationary ring-disk electrode. The number of active centers and the copper nucleation rate are shown to substantially depend on the electrochemical pretreatment of the electrode. The mechanism governing the formation of intermediate species (ions Cu+) during the nucleation of a new copper phase and the deposit dissolution is analyzed.