TEXTURAL EVOLUTION IN ELECTRODEPOSITS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ADSORBEDFOREIGN SPECIES .2. A SIMULATION STUDY ON EFFECTS OF POTASSIUM-CHLORIDE ON TEXTURAL EVOLUTION IN COPPER ELECTRODEPOSITS

The texture of copper deposits produced in the bath containing potassi um chloride changes with the content of the potassium chloride. This c hange in texture was usually explained to be caused by chloride adsorp tion on the cathode. This paper reports simulation studies on textural evolution in copper electrodeposits under the influence of potassium chloride, using a Monte Carlo simulation approach. The study was condu cted based on the assumption that the textural development results fro m the minimization of the system free energy in which the surface-ener gy anisotropy plays the most important role. The simulation demonstrat es that adsorbed potassium ions may change the surface-energy anisotro py of copper, and therefore, they also affect texture variation in cop per deposits in addition to the chloride effect. It was observed the p otassium effect on textural variation in copper deposits is even stron ger than that of the Cl- adsorption.