The initial stage of copper electrodeposition and the influence of CO32- ions on the nucleation and growth of copper on glass carbon from a 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDPA) electrolyte was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) techniques. The nucleation is in a good agreement with the progressive nucleation and three-dimensional (3D) growth for the solutions without CO32-, while instantaneous nucleation with three-dimensional growth was found for the electrolyte with CO32-.There was an increase in the nuclear number density of nuclei at the surface with the increase of potential.The possible explanation for this result was that CO32- could enter the complex to stable the Cu in the structure as the second ligand and formed a kind of more stable complex compound ,which was adsorbed on the surface of electrode.