Pd Nanoparticle Formation during Constant Potential Electrodepositions in Ionic Liquids

The palladium film deposited on a nickel substrate in 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium dicyanamide using a constant potential electrodeposition method was shown to be composed of nanoparticles under transmission electron microscopy. The electrodeposition was carried out by applying a potential hold of -2.3 V vs Fc/Fc+ for 16 h. The size distribution of palladium nanoparticles was unimodal and narrow with an average size of 6.3 ± 1.6 nm. The Pd nanoparticles were polycrystalline with (111) plane being the most prevalent. The implications of this include the having to reconsider the properties of electrodeposited Pd thin films from ionic liquids and opening further applications of electrodeposition of Pd to include nanoparticle synthesis.