Abstract
? 2022 Elsevier B.V.Composite Cu2?xSe thin films can be rapidly prepared on brass by liquid chemical deposition in 1 min. With the addition of acetic acid in the oxidizing solution containing SeO2/H2SO4/ H2O2, the sizes of the selenide particles become smaller and thus much smoother films are obtained, while the films become thinner and denser as seen from their scanning electron microscopy and EDS results. X-ray diffraction and XPS results reveal that copper acetate is spontaneously formed with the acetate acid addition, and the existence of copper acetate hinders the growth of copper selenides, leading to the decrease in film thickness; during their mutual deposition, copper acetate probably fills the spaces among selenide particles, and thus improves the compactness and decrease the roughness of the composite film. The miniaturization of the selenide particles with the acetate acid addition results in a great improvement in both the hardness and wear resistance of the composite films. When the composite films are sealed by sodium silicate, a successive interlayer is formed on their outer surfaces that result in the further improvement in their corrosive resistance as reflected by the electrochemical test and thermal humidity test.
NSTL
Elsevier