Development of a New Suspension Electrolyte based on Methanesulphonic Acid for the Electrodeposition of Cu–Tio2Composites

Abstract

Electrodeposition of composite coatings based on copper is a promising direction in the creation of advanced materials for multifunctional purposes. An important area of composites appli-cation is to use them in the treatment systems for gas emissions and wastewa-ter. It is advisable to use semiconductor oxide materials, in particular titanium dioxide, as the photocatalysts in the photo destruction of organic pollutants of wastewater. The structural features of wastewater treatment equipment require that titanium dioxide parti-cles should be fixed in a rigid matrix. Resolving the task of fixing photosensi-tive elements at the surface of a certain configuration implies the electrodeposi-tion of coatings by composites, in par-ticular Cu–TiO2. An important factor affecting the functional characteristics of composites and their manufacturing technology is the nature of the electro-lyte. It has been shown that the electro-deposition of Cu–TiO2 composites from methane-sulfonate electrolytes makes it possible to reduce the coagulation of the dispersed phase and to obtain coatings with a high content of titanium dioxide from a suspension solution containing no more than 4 g/l of TiO2. It was estab-lished that the content of the dispersed phase in the composite made at a cur-rent density of 2 A/dm2 and the concen-tration of titanium dioxide in the elec-trolyte at the level of 4 g/l is 1.3 % by weight, which is twice as much as when using a sulfate electrolyte. It has been shown that the increase in the content of the dispersed phase in the coatings from 0.1 to 1.3 % by weight is accom-panied by an increase in the degree of photo destruction of the colorant from 6 to 15.5 %. The micro-hardness of coat-ings increases, in this case, by 30 %. The proposed electrolyte to make the Cu–TiO2 composites is an important contribution to the development of the synthesis of wear-resistant high-per-formance photocatalysts for treating wastewater from organic pollutants