Preparation and characterization of CdS/Cd nanoparticle film produced by electrodeposition

In the absence of surfactant, CdS/Cd film was deposited on air-liquid interface by electrodeposition in aqueous solution containing the equal molar ratio of CdCl₂ and CH₃CSNH₂ with the platinum of 300 μm in diameter was used as the electrode and the deposited film was yellow. In the existence of surfactant, CdS/Cd nanoparticle film was prepared by electrodeposition on liquid-liquid interface between surfactant and low concentration electrolyte under the condition of using platinum anode of 300 μm in diameter and platinum cathode of 30 μm in diameter. Effects of electrolyte concentration, pH, temperature, voltage, category and amount of surfactant, etc. on grain size of film were studied and the optimum condition for preparing nanoparticle film by electrodeposition was found. AFM images indicate that the minimum particle size of nanofilm deposited at optimum condition is about 22 nm and the particle size of the film deposited in the absence of surfactant is over 100 nm. The results of XPS show that those two kinds of film consist of Cd and CdS and their mole ratio is about 2:1. The analysis of XRD indicates that nanofilm deposited under the optimum condition consists of polycrystalline of Cd and CdS.