Electroplating: Exploring Factors Effecting Deposition, Morphology, and Thickness of Thin Metallic Layers of Copper

Students will create thin layers of copper and nickel in an electrochemical reaction to understand how an electric current passed through an ionic solution will result in a chemical reaction which will separate materials. In addition students will also explore the various parameters effecting deposition, morphology, and thickness of the film to be deposited. An extension for this lesson has students examine their layers using a scanning electron microscope which can be remotely accessed using RAIN at https://nano4me.org/remoteaccess.