Antimony, electrodeposition

Antimony is a brittle silvery-white metal. Although the unalloyed form of antimony is not often used in industry, alloys of antimony have found wide commercial applications. The integration of antimony gives certain desirable properties, such as increased corrosion resistance and hardness. Moreover, antimony is also the component of some semiconductors such as InSb and InAsi %Sb%. Sb electrodeposits with good adherence were obtained in a water-stable l-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride-tetrafluoroborate ([EMIM]C1-BF4) room-temperature ionicliquid [53]. Furthermore, it was stated that a crystalline InSb compound can be obtained through direct electrodeposition in the ionic liquid [EMIM]C1-BF4 containing In(III) and Sb(III) at 120 °C [54]. It is just a question of time until antimony electrodeposition is reported in the third generation of ionic liquids. 

Indium and antimony The electrodeposition of In on glassy carbon, tungsten, and nickel has been reported [26]. In basic chloroaluminates, elemental indium is... 

Electrodeposition of antimony sesquitelluride, Sb2Tc3, or of (Bii xSbx)2Te3 alloys from aqueous solutions is challenging because it is difficult to achieve a sufficiently high concentration of antimony. Complexing agents such as tartaric acid, citric acid, or FUTA have been used to solubilize Sb in water. 

Leimkiihler G, Kerkamm I, Reineke-Koch R (2002) Electrodeposition of antimony telluride. J Electrochem Soc 149 C474-C478... 

Simultaneous and continuous measurements of extracellular pH, potassium K+, and lactate in an ischemic heart were carried out to study lactic acid production, intracellular acidification, and cellular K+ loss and their quantitative relationships [6, 7], The pH sensor was fabricated on a flexible kapton substrate and the pH sensitive iridium oxide layer was electrodeposited on a planar platinum electrode. Antimony-based pH electrodes have also been used for the measurement of myocardial pH in addition to their application in esophageal acid reflux detection. 

Mitchell, J. A., The Electrodeposition of Cobalt, Iron, Antimony and Their Alloys from Acidic Aluminum Chloride 1 -methyl-3-ethylimidazolium Chloride Room-Temperature Molten Salts, Ph.D. Dissertation, 1997, University of Mississippi University, MS. 

Cathode deposit morphology can also be affected by the presence of trace elements in solution. An SEM micrograph of a zinc deposit from a pure or unadulterated electrolyte and time duration of two minutes at 10 mA/cm2 is shown in Figure 3. When U0 parts per billion of antimony was added to this solution, and a similar electrodeposition cycle was performed, an approximate ten-fold increase in crystallite size was obtained (see Figure U). 

Nitrogen does not react with arsenic. The latter dissolves in aqueous ammonia, apparently forming a complex compound.4 In anhydrous liquid ammonia it dissolves without reaction 5 and from the solution the arsenic may be successfully electrodeposited.6 This is not the case with antimony or bismuth. The solution of arsenic in liquid ammonia does not react with metallic cyanides.7... 

Habboush and Osteryoung were the first to describe the electrodeposition of a Group V metal from AlClj/1-butyl-pyridinium chloride-based ionic liquids. As antimony sources they used SbCh or Sb-rods, dissolved by anodic dissolution [16]. For the composition AlCl j BuPyCl (0.8 1) a deposition of Sb was observed at —0.885 V... 

The electrodeposition of antimony, Sb, has been reported in both acidic and basic BPCI-AICI3 ionic liquid [28, 29]. Antimony trichloride, SbCl3, is soluble in both acidic and basic ionic liquids. In the case of an acidic ionic liquid, a cationic trivalent antimony species, SbClJ, is formed and can be reduced to the metallic state ... 

The electrodeposition of antimony [77] and indium-antimony [78] alloys has been reported in a basic EMICI-EMIBF4 ionic liquid. Antimony trichloride, SbCl3, dissolves in the ionic liquid and forms SbQ, the same as in the basic chloro-aluminate ionic liquid. Metallic Sb can be obtained by the cathodic reduction of SbCl4, as shown in Eq. (9.14). The formal potential of Sb(III)/Sb is reported as —0.27 V vs. AI/Al(in) in the ionic liquid containing Cl at 0.11 M. In addition the oxidation of SbCl4 leads to the formation of a pentavalent antimony species, SbClg ... 

Other examples of selective electrodeposition are given in books by Lingane, Diehl, and Sand. As examples may be cited the separation of silver from copper, bismuth from copper, antimony from tin, cadmium from zinc, and rhodium from iridium. 

Yang MH, Sun IW (2003) Electrodeposition of antimony in a water-stable l-ethyl-3-meth-ylimidazolium chloride tetrafluoroborate room temperature ionic liquid. J Appl Electrochem 33 1077-1082... 

When several metals are simultaneously electrodeposited in mercury, intermetallic compounds between them may be formed. In anodic stripping voltammetry the following compounds of copper, zinc, and antimony may influence the measurements CuZn, CuSn, CuGa, SbZn, SbCd, and Sbln. The values of their solubility products are between 2 x 10 (SbZn) and 4 x 10 (CuZn) [1]. 

Kristev I, Nikolova M (1986) Structural effects during the electrodeposition of silver-antimony alloys from ferrocyanidethiocyanate electrolytes. J Appl Electrochem 16 875-878... 

The III-V compound semiconductors, in particular antimony-based semiconductors (AlSb, GaSb, and InSb), are important materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, surprisingly, little work has been done on the electrodeposition of III-V semiconductors in ionic liquids. 

Kozlov VM, Agrigento V, Mussati G, Bicelli LP (1999) Influence of the structure of the electrodeposited antimony substrate on indium diffusion. J Alloys Compd 288 255... 

Figure 11.1 Rotating spiral waves during the electrodeposition of silver-antimony alloy. The characteristic wavelength (i.e., the pitch) and the rotation period of the spiral waves are 10 lm and 10 s, respectively. Reprinted with permission from Ref [11].

A qualitatively different type of precipitation patterns concerns structures formed during the electrodeposition of alloys. In 1938, Raub and Schall observed the formation of propagating wave patterns during the electrodeposition of silver-indium alloy [9, 10]. However, their observation was widely ignored, because no systematic theory was available that could classify these patterns as typical features of systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium. In 1986, the phenomenon was studied by Krastev and Nikolova in the possibly related electrodeposition of a silver-antimony alloy (Figure 11.1) [11]. Furthermore, very similar patterns were observed by Saltykova et al. during the electrodeposition of iridium-ruthenium alloy from molten salts [12]. 

Krastev, 1. and Koper, M.T.M. (1986) Pattern formation during the electrodeposition of a silver-antimony alloys. 

Janardhanan. have reviewed the quantitative electrodeposition of tin, copper, bismuth, antimony, and lead. Of particular interest to radiochemists... 

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