Mn-Co nanofilms on nickel foam measured by XPS mehod

Manganium-Cobaltium based thin films were electrochemically deposited on a Ni based subsrates in a one-step process at −1.1 V vs. Ag/AgCl in an aqueous solution of differently concentrated Mn(NO3)2·4H2O and Co(NO3)2·6H2O with the deposition time limited by charges of 60, 120, and 200 mC at 25 °C. The concentration ratios of Mn(NO3)2·4H2O to Co(NO3)2·6H2O were 2 mM to 4 mM, 2 mM to 6 mM, 2 mM to 8 mM, 4 mM to 2 mM, and 0 mM to 4 mM.  Chemical characterisation of the Co element was performed by CPS method.  X-ray photoemission spectroscopy measurements were carried out with Omicron NanoTechnology ultra-high vacuum equipment. The hemispherical spectrophotometer was equipped with a 128-channel collector. The XPS measurements were performed at room temperature at a pressure below 1.1 × 10−8 mBar. The photoelectrons were excited by an Mg-Kα X-Ray source. The X-ray anode was operated at 15 keV and 300 W. The results were corrected using the C1s peak (285.0 eV). The XPS spectra were analysed with the Casa-XPS software using a Shirley background subtraction and Gaussian–Lorentzian (GL30) curve as a fitting algorithm.