A voltammetric study of the underpotential deposition of cobalt and antimony on gold
Résumé
This study reports on preliminary experiments which are required to define the experimental conditions
for depositing CoSb3 thin films by the electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy (EC-ALE) method. The underpotential
deposition (UPD) of cobalt and antimony on polycrystalline gold substrates has been investigated
by means of cyclic voltammetry, anodic potentiodynamic scanning and coulometry. The UPD of
Sb on Co-covered Au and of Co on Sb-covered Au have also been studied and compared to those obtained
on bare Au substrate.
The UPD potential values for both Co and Sb are reported in this paper, and owing to the flexibility of the
EC-ALE equipment, new insights on the Co UPD on gold substrate are presented. This study shows that
the subsequent alternate deposition of Co and Sb monolayers is feasible and thus that the EC-ALE method
can be used to elaborate CoSb3 thin films.