Simulations of Galvanostatic Electrodeposition of Metallic Nanoparticles Under Diffusion Control

Understanding nucleation and growth processes are fundamental in achieving morphological control during electrocrystallization. In this work, galvanostatic electrocrystallization from a monovalent metallic cation is simulated following Isaev & Grishenkova's model. The nucleation model was solved using a Runge-Kutta (RK) numerical method to simulate the overpotential during the electrodeposition of multiple nuclei following an overpotential-dependent probability distribution function. Based on this model, the effect of applied current pulse intensity on the particle size distribution is studied. The relation of current attributed to different processes occurring at the surface of the electrode and the overpotential response is also studied. Lastly, the effect of electrolyte-new phase surface tension on the size distribution of formed particles is also studied. Numerical simulations were done using different current pulse intensities, from 0.5×10-4 Acm-2 to 10-5 Acm-2 and different values of surface tension of 1×10-5, 1.3×10-5 and 1.6×10-5 Jcm-2.