Molecular electro-chemical deposition

ZnO thin films can be prepared by a variety of techniques such as magnetron sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, pulsed-laser deposition, molecular beam epitaxy, spray-pyrolysis, and (electro-)chemical deposition [24,74]. In this book, sputtering (Chap. 5), chemical vapor deposition (Chap. 6), and pulsed-laser deposition (Chap. 7) are described in detail, since these methods lead to the best ZnO films concerning high conductivity and transparency. The first two methods allow also large area depositions making them the industrially most advanced deposition techniques for ZnO. ZnO films easily crystallize, which is different for instance compared with ITO films that can... 

The hybridizing component can also be formed directly on the surface of a pristine or modified nanocarbon using molecular precursors, such as organic monomers, metal salts or metal organic complexes. Depending on the desired compound, in situ deposition can be carried out either in solution, such as via direct network formation via in situ polymerization, chemical reduction, electro- or electroless deposition, and sol-gel processes, or from the gas phase using chemical deposition (i.e. CVD or ALD) or physical deposition (i.e. laser ablation, electron beam deposition, thermal evaporation, or sputtering). 

However, the reason of the appearance of negative impedance is always a chemical/electrochemical process. In most cases the blocking (inactivation) of the electrode (metal) surface is the pivotal (autoinhibition) step in the mechanism behind the emergence of the oscillating behavior. The blocking can be a consequence of adsorption of ions or molecules, chemisorption of molecular fragments, deposition of metals, salts or other compounds, formation of oxide layer etc. In all cases several coupled, consecutive, and simultaneous processes occur. The oscillating behavior appears only at a certain set of parameters (concentrations of the electro-chemically active species, the nature and the concen-... 

High-resolution structural and force data obtained with this technique can provide a powerful insight into many electrochemical interfacial phenomena such as the role of the electrolyte in determining the activity of the electrode, the underpotential deposition (upd) process, the nature of the diffuse double layer (DL), corrosion, and the activity of molecular adsorbates on electrode surfaces. (2) The use of electro-chemically active AFM probes to investigate the structure-activity relationship of a wide range of interfacial processes. 

The development of vapor deposition techniques like chemical vapor deposition (CVP), plasma vapor deposition (PVD), or molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have tempted electro-chemists to prepare such films from a liquid phase with electrochemical reactions. Chemical processes can stimulate the film formation, e.g., the decomposition of precursors like sulfur compounds in the presence of metal ions like cadmium. Insoluble CdS is formed and a film is deposited by crystallization on a substrate. ... 

---