Gelatin Effects on the Kinetic of an Electrodeposition Process in Copper Foil Preparation

In the electrolysis of copper foil, the addition of trace additives can adjust the kinetic parameters of the copper electrochemical process to control the crystal orientation. This is of great significance for the production of ultrathin copper foil and its application in lithium-ion batteries. The reaction rate constant and diffusion coefficient determine the rate of the electrochemical and mass transfer processes around the electrode–electrolyte interface. In this study, the influences of gelatin on the kinetic parameters of copper electrodeposition were fully investigated. An electrochemical study found that gelatin could make the copper deposit more difficult to dissolve and that an increase in gelatin concentration would reduce the charge transfer rate of the Cu2+ → Cu reaction. An RDE study found that the addition of gelatin reduced the reaction rate constant of the Cu2+ → Cu reaction and increased the diffusion coefficient of Cu2+ in the electrolyte. Increasing the gelatin concentration from 0.002 to 0.02 g/L was beneficial to the grain refinement of the deposited layer. After the addition of gelatin, the copper deposit layer grew preferentially on the (111) crystal plane.