Gold-Decorated Flow-Through Electrodes: Effect of Electrochemical Time Constant on Electrodeposition of Au Particles on Reticulated Vitreous Carbon

Here, we investigate the effect of the time constant on the ED of Au particles on RVC substrates. Potentiostatic ED was performed on two RVC samples with electrochemical accessible surface areas of 1.0 and 750 cm 2 . Progressive nucleation was observed on both substrates. At the same applied potentials, the large ohmic drop on the high surface area sample (750 cm 2 ) cannot be neglected and results in a significantly reduced nucleation density (∼30%) and a larger mean diameter. Knowledge of how the electrochemical cell time constant (resistance-capacitance time constant) affects particle coverage and size allows one to optimize ED conditions on substrates with high surface areas. The scaling of ED conditions is important for several technological applications.