Evaluation of reduction reactions in aqueous solution: economical alternatives for laboratory

Technological development in solid-state chemistry, nanotechnology, and new materials is advancing at an accelerated pace, studies of methods to generate thin films of conductive and semiconductor materials are of great interest, however, current methods tend to be very expensive and inaccessible to developing countries. The present work seeks to present viable and economical alternatives for teaching laboratories to investigate chemical deposition processes in aqueous solutions and produce thin layers of materials of interest in solid-state chemistry and new materials. The metals studied were copper, cobalt and, nickel in different types of salts and reducing agents, hydrazine hydrochloride, phenylhydrazine and, sodium borohydride. The main results show that it is possible to use cheaper chemicals to study depositions in an aqueous solution, a viable alternative for laboratories.