Adsorption phenomena on polycrystalline gold electrode modified by Zn adatoms

Summary

In this paper, experimental results obtained by the in-situ radiotracer and voltammetric studies of the competitive adsorption of the HSO₄^-/SO₄^2- (labeled with ³⁵S) and Cl^- (labeled with ³⁶Cl) anions on bare Au_poly substrate and Au_poly surfaces modified by the Zn adatoms in the lower pH region (pH≤4.5) are presented and discussed. In addition, some data on the formation of Zn adlayers (labeled with ⁶⁵Zn) are reported to demonstrate the complex features of the underpotential deposition (UPD) phenomenon. It has been revealed that (1) the relative adsorption strength of Cl^- ions on bare Au_poly is higher than that of H₂PO₄^-/PO₄^3- and HSO₄^-/SO₄^2- ions in the entire pH region studied; (2) anomalous tendency of the specific adsorption of anions on polycrystalline gold modified by Zn adatoms occurs at pH 4.5 as follows: PO₄^3->SO₄^2->Cl^->>ClO₄^- and (3) the UPD of Zn²⁺ ions on polycrystalline gold is measurable even from solutions containing 5 ^. 10^-8M Zn²⁺ over the entire potential range where the hydrogen evolution takes place.It is, however, plausible to assume that the coverage of the gold surface by Zn adatoms measured even at solution concentrations of c≥5 ^. 10^-4M does not exceed one monolayer.