Electrochemical behaviour of alkaline copper complexes

A search for non-cyanide plating baths for copper resulted in the development of alkaline copper complex baths containing trisodium citrate [TSC] and triethanolamine [TEA]. Voltammetric studies were carried out on platinum to understand the electrochemical behaviour of these complexes. In TSC solutions, the deposition of copper involves the slow formation of a monovalent species. Adsorption of this species obeys Langmuir isotherm. In TEA solutions the deposition involves the formation of monovalent ions obeying the non-activated Temkin isotherm. Conversion of divalent to monovalent copper is also slow. In TEA and TSC alkaline copper solutions, the predominant species that undergo stepwise reduction contain only TEA ligands.