Kinetic surface roughening of electrodeposited amorphous PdP and NiP films – A comparative study

Kinetic surface roughening of electrodeposited PdP and NiP amorphous films were investigated by atomic force microscopy and X-rays phase-contrast radiography. Anomalous scaling of the interface width was observed for PdP system, with H = 0.75 ± 0.06, βloc = 0.49 ± 0.07 and β = 0.38 ± 0.08. In contrast, NiP system shows normal scaling behavior, with H = 0.70 ± 0.02 and β = 0.16 ± 0.03. The results suggest that surface roughening during film growth is strongly influenced by local behaviors like hydrogen evolution reaction, which shifts surface roughening from normal scaling in NiP to anomalous scaling in PdP.