A complementary survey of staircase voltammetry with metal ion deposition on macroelectrodes

• Staircase voltammetry with metal deposition is reviewed.
• IR drop, low charge transfer, current integration and anodic dissolution are studied.
• 3D nucleation is discussed.

Further analysis of staircase voltammetry for reversible and quasi-reversible metal ion deposition on a same metal electrode and on a foreign electrode is presented. Literal solutions and numerical simulation are used to quantify the electrochemical response under conditions of planar semi-infinite diffusion. Addressed topics include: consideration of the uncompensated resistance, comparison of the apparent charge found by integration of the voltammograms with the actual faradaic charge transferred, anodic dissolution of the deposit in a cyclical potential scan, properties and interest of the zero-crossing point, occurrence of 3D nucleation overvoltage.