Strategies for Improved Metal Coating Penetration in Porous Structures Using MITRe Modeling

The application of electrodeposition processes for providing porous structures such as foams, fiber cloths or packed fiber beds with a metallic coating remains a challenging process, since the throwing power of these processes into the porous structure is in general very poor. In this presentation, it will be demonstrated by simulations for an acid copper deposition process that the deposit thickness decreases very rapidly when progressing further into a fiber cloth structure. The simulated results were obtained from a FEM based Multi-Ion Transport and Reaction (MITRe) model with transport and kinetic electrode reaction parameters that are relevant to an acid copper deposition process. The same MITRe model is used for investigating different mitigation strategies aiming at an enhanced throwing power in the fiber cloth structure. It is demonstrated that a carefully defined forced electrolyte flow system and the application of pulse current programs can largely enhance the throwing power.