Electrochemical growth of hierarchical CuSn nanobrushes from an ionic liquid

One-step electrochemical synthesis of hierarchical single crystalline copper–tin nanobrushes is achieved in a room temperature 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ionic liquid containing 0.016 M Cu(I) and 0.033 M Sn(II) at a low current density of − 0.4 mA cm− 2. This study also shows that morphologies of the deposits can be manipulated by the Cu(I)/Sn(II) concentrations in the solution, and thus, offers a method for reproducible preparation of the nanobrushes.

► Hierarchical Cu3Sn nanobrushes were electrodeposited from an ionic liquid.
► The deposited Cu–Sn morphology depends largely on the bath concentrations.
► The single crystal nanobrush is confirmed by the HR-TEM and SAED results.