Influence of ethanol content in the precursor solution on anodic electrodeposited CeO2 thin films

Ceria thin films have been anodically deposited onto 316L stainless steel in bath solutions containing different volume ratios of ethanol (0, 10, 40, 70 and 100% v/v). The influence of ethanol content on the electroplating behavior, and the structural and corrosion properties of the cerium oxide films were studied with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction, and Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results show that ethanol content plays a significant role on the properties of the deposited ceria films but negligible effect on their electroplating behavior. The as-deposited films are mostly in the Ce(IV) oxidation state and the stoichiometry is around CeO1.90 for all samples. With the increase of ethanol content from 0 to 100% v/v, the average grain diameter and film thickness of the obtained ceria film decrease from 16.8 nm to 11.1 nm and from 32.9 nm to 15.8 nm, respectively. Using a deposition bath solution containing 10% v/v ethanol, a layer of compacted yellowish gold ceria film with the minimum porosity of 19.9%, mean crystalline diameter of 15.4 nm, and maximum corrosion resistance of 3.31 × 10− 5 Ω has been obtained.