The Controllable Growth of CoNiCu Nanoalloy Electrodeposited from Electrolyte-Containing Alkyl Polyglucoside

A controlled growth characteristic of CoNiCu nanoalloys on indium tin oxide coated glass (ITO) has been prepared by alkyl polyglucoside (APG) assisted electrodeposition. The FESEM analysis carried out on the as-prepared samples found that the morphology of nanoscale Co-Ni-Cu alloy particles was strongly influenced by the APG surfactant in the reaction. In a typical process, the morphology of Co-Ni-Cu particles was spherical with excellent size distribution of average size ca. 50 nm. It is in total contrast with those prepared in the absence of APG, of which is irregular shape particles of size ca. 100 nm as the dominant product. The composition analysis on the deposits found that the addition of the APG surfactant in the reaction may modify the ratio of the alloys to some extents, as the change in the co-electrodeposition potential become improbable in the system without the APG surfactant.