Particle Codeposition in Nanocomposite Films

Nanocomposite films can be deposited by electrochemical deposition of a material from a solution containing a suspension of nanometer size particles. We show that the kinetics of nanometer size particle incorporation into a growing film can be described by a model that takes into account the convective diffusion of particles to the surface and treats particle incorporation in terms of the residence time at the surface. Experimentally, particle transport can be controlled using a rotating disk electrode. We show that incorporation of 300 nm particles into nickel films can be described by this model. © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.