Metal—electrolyte interface, FTIRS

The introduction of in-situ infrared spectroscopy to electrochemistry has revolutionised the study of metal/electrolyte interfaces. Modnlation or sampling techniques are applied in order to enhance sensitivity and to separate snrface species from volume species. Methods such as EMIRS (electrochemicaUy modulated IR spectroscopy) and SNIFTIRS (subtractively normalised interfacial Fonrier Transform infrared spectroscopy) have been employed to study electrocatalytic electrodes, for example. There have been surprisingly few studies of the semiconductor/electrolyte interface by infrared spectroscopy. This because up to now little emphasis has been placed on the molecnlar electrochemistry of electrode reactions at semiconductors because the description of charge transfer at semiconductor/electrolyte interfaces is derived from solid-state physics. However, the evident need to identify the chemical identity of snrface species should lead to an increase in the application of in-situ FTIR. 

The construction of a cell permitting both FTIR measurements and electrochemical impedance measurements at buried polymer/metal interfaces has been described [266]. Ingress of water and electrolyte, oxidation (corrosion) of the aluminum metal layer, swelling of the polymer and delamination of the polymer were observed. A cell suitable for ATR measurements up to 80°C has been described [267]. The combination of a cell for ATR measurements with DBMS (see Sect. 5.8.1) has been developed [268]. It permits simultaneous detection of stable adsorbed species and relatively stable adsorbed reaction intermediates (via FTIR spectroscopy), quantitative determination of volatile species with DBMS and elucidation of overall reaction kinetics. An arrangement with a gas-fed electrode attached to the ATR element and operated at T = 60°C has been reported [269]. In this study, the establishment of mixed potentials at an oxygen consuming direct methanol fuel cell in the presence of methanol at the cathode was investigated. With infrared spec-... 

---