Electrodeposition and Characterization of Industrial and Technological Interesting Sufaces

This Ph.D. thesis was focused on the energy production from photovoltaic technology and fuel cell techonlogy. From one side, the goal of the work was the obtainment of a copper-tin alloy with 2:1 atomic ratio of the two metals able to be considered a starting point in the obtainment of the Cu2ZnSnS4 compound called kesterite via the electrodeposition technique, an intrinsic semiconducting material. On the other side of the Ph.D. thesis, was faced the issue of the sustainability of electrodeposited catalysts for energy production and storage devices such as fuel cells. In the case of non-PGM-based catalytic surfaces, was studied the enrichment of chars derived from the pyrolysis of waste tyres by the electrodeposition of cobalt, as alternative catalytic material for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline fuel cells. In the case of PGM-based catalytic surfaces, was developed a combined electroless process to produce palladium coatings free of defects and with a tailorable thickness on copper substrates.