Electrodeposition of ZnO from DMSO solution: Influence of anion nature and its concentration in the nucleation and growth mechanisms

The influence of the anion nature and its concentration in the electrodeposition of ZnO onto a gold electrode from dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solutions was studied. Voltammetric experiments revealed important changes in the zinc oxide electrodeposition process depending on the employed anion as electrolyte. From chronoamperometric experiments, the corresponding current-time curves were fitted with different nucleation and growth mechanism models. The analysis of these results showed changes from an instantaneous to a progressive growth when the solution composition was changed from ZnCl₂ to ZnCl₂ + LiCl. The change of the mechanism is associated to the adsorption of chloride ion on the active sites of the electrode surface when LiCl is present in the solution.