Electrodeposition of europium and its oxide formation

Europium metal thin films have been electrodeposited potentiostatically onto the fluorine-doped tin-oxide (FTO) covered glass substrates from an aqueous acidic bath, complexed with a citric acid. Bath pH value of 2–2.5 and citric acid as complexing agent play an important role in bringing down the deposition potential and thus making the deposition process possible. The effects of preparative parameters such as deposition potential and bath temperature are studied. The films are exposed to atmospheric oxygen for their conversion into europium oxide and are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical absorption. The XRD studies reveal that the material formed on FTO covered glass substrates is europium oxide and polycrystalline one. The grain size for the deposited material is about 300 Å. The SEM studies show that total substrate surface is covered by the film with small grains.