TEM observation of general growth behavior for silver electroplating on copper rod

•The silver films are successfully electroplated on pure copper rods.•The columnar growth is detected in the coated silver film.•The micro-disorientation in the silver grain is characterized by displaced-aperture dark field (DADF) in TEM.•The columnar growth direction is parallel to <110>, perpendicular to {110} in face-centered structure.