Activated Carbon Particles Prepared from Hazelnut Shells as Bio-Reinforcement in Co-Electrodeposited Copper Coatings

Activated carbon particles (ACPs) were obtained from biomass (hazelnut shells - HZs). Prepared HZs materials were carbonized in the furnace at
$600^{\circ}\ \mathrm{C}$
for Ih, and activated in CO2 (850 °C, 2h). The microstructural properties of carbons were tested using the Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) equation methods. After shredding, and sifting processes, inert micro-sized particles were used as bio-reinforcement in electrochemically co-deposited copper coatings. The sulfate electrolytes without/with carbon particles (1.0 wt. %) were used for deposition/co-electrodeposition of 10 micrometers-thick Cu or Cu/C coatings on brass cathodes using the pulse current regime (PC). The structural, mechanical, and wettability properties of Cu and Cu/C metal matrix coatings with variations in amplitude current densities in the range of 30–100
$\text{mA}\cdot \text{cm}^{-2}$
were investigated. An improvement in micro hardness was observed for all CulC composites compared to pure Cu coatings. The wettability resistances of coatings were investigated using the sessile drop method, and the obtained results are correlated with the microstructures. The better results were obtained at a higher current density for the Cu/C coating.