On the Mechanism of the Quasi-Potentiostatic Mode in the Template Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanowires

Abstract

The mechanism of forming an ensemble of nanowires by electrodeposition into the pores of polymer membranes in the mode of a constant measured potential difference between the cathode and the reference electrode is considered. It is shown that, after the partial filling of the pores with metal, a rapid increase in the area of these surface microregions leads to a change in the balance between the potential of these areas and a potential decrease in the solution adjacent to this zone. As a consequence, a shift in the cathodic potential of such sites in the positive direction and a corresponding decrease in the local value of the cathodic current density, which helps to equalize the growth rates of individual nanowires, is observed.