P-008

Gitana Valeckytė

gitana.valeckyte@ftmc.lt

Zita Sukackienė, Jūratė Vaičiūnienė, Loreta Tamašauskaitė-Tamašiūnaitė, Eugenijus Norkus

Department of Catalysis, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC), Lithuania

Characterisation of NiCo catalysts produced via electroless deposition method

Electroless metal plating systems are based on the autocatalytic reduction of metals using a reducing agent. It is a commonly held view that the reducing agent is adsorbed on the metal surface because the metal (Cu) catalyzes the anodic oxidation of the reducing agent. During this reaction, the generated electrons reduce the metal ions or metal ion complexes adsorbed on the surface. Mostly, the reaction itself is autocatalytic, i.e., the new metal coating formed catalyzes the oxidation of the reducing agent and the metal deposition continues. The metal plating solution typically consists of metal ions, a reducing agent, appropriate complexing agents, and stabilizers. 

In the present study, the synthesis of NiCo(4)/Cu, NiCo(10)/Cu, NiCo(20)/Cu, NiCo(80)/Cu and NiCo(90)/Cu catalysts was accomplished through the electroless deposition method of metal. The surface morphology, internal structure and chemical composition of the obtained catalysts were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), induced plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was determined that the prepared coating particles consist of oval-shaped agglomerates. The resulting materials are also known as amorphous compounds. The composition of the catalysts was analyzed, showing Ni loading ranging from 52.5 to 1047 µg/cm² and Co ranging from 38.5 to 614 µg/cm².post