Growth control and properties of dendrite-like copper crystal synthesized by electrochemical deposition

Using copper sulfate as the precursor and hydrochloric acid as the additive, dendrite-like copper crystals（DLCCs）with micrometer size and face-cubic structure were successfully fabricated by electrochemical deposition at room temperature. Effects of experimental parameters, such as concentrations of sulfate acid, copper sulfate, and hydrochloric acid, current density and deposition time, on size and structure of the DLCCs were investigated. It is indicated that the concentration of sulfate acid does not affect the crystal structure markedly. Whereas fractal structure of copper becomes much clearer with the increasing of the copper ion concentration. When the current density is improved from 0.4 to 1.6 A·cm-2/sup>, the deposit translates into open structure with much more dendrite-