Metal-solution interface experimental

Thus the tendency for an electrochemical reaction at a metal/solution interface to proceed in a given direction may be defined in terms of the relative values of the actual electrode potential E (experimentally determined and expressed with reference to the S.H.E.) and the reversible or equilibrium potential E, (calculated from E and the activities of the species involved in the equilibrium). 

Although the pzc contains all the essential structural information about the metal/solution interface, this information is not immediately apparent but must be appropriately decoded. This necessitates a description of (M - A) in microscopic terms that require a minimum of model assumptions.3 Another problem is that (0M - 0s)o is not directly accessible to experimental determination. What is actually measured, usually de-... 

Figure 8. Typical adsorption potential shifts as a function of adsorbate surface concentration. (1) At the free surface of a solution (real behavior), (2) ideal behavior, and (3) at a metal (Hg)/solution interface. Experimental points for adsorption of 1,4-butanediol from Ref. 328.

More recently, the curvature at air/solution interfaces has been accounted for by Nikitas and Pappa-Louisi98 in terms of a specific molecular model that predicts a linear dependence of (lM/ ) on (1/0). The same model also reproduces the behavior at metal/solution interfaces, specifically Hg electrodes, for which most of the experimental data exist. Nikitas treatment provides a method for an unambiguous extrapolation of the adsorption potential shift to 0= 1. However, the interpretation of the results is subject to the difficulties outlined above. Nikitas approach does provide... 

Jurkiewicz-Herbich, M. Metal/Solution Interface An Experimental Approach 31... 

Prior to the 1970 s, electrochemical kinetic studies were largely directed towards faradaic reactions occurring at metal electrodes. While certain questions remain unanswered, a combination of theoretical and experimental studies has produced a relatively mature picture of electron transfer at the metal-solution interface f1-41. Recent interest in photoelectrochemical processes has extended the interest in electrochemical kinetics to semiconductor electrodes f5-151. Despite the pioneering work of Gerischer (11-141 and Memming (15), many aspects of electron transfer kinetics at the semiconductor-solution interface remain controversial or unexplained. 

The electrical double layer has been dealt with in countless papers and in a number of reviews, including those published in previous volumes of the Modem Aspects of Electrochemistry series/ The experimental double layer data have been reported and commented on in several important works in which various theories of the structure of the double layer have been postulated. Nevertheless, many double layer-related problems have not been solved yet, mainly because certain important parameters describing the interface cannot be measured. This applies to the electric permittivity, dipole moments, surface density, and other physical quantities that are influenced by the electric field at the interface. It is also often difficult to separate the electrostatic and specific interactions of the solvent and the adsorbate with the electrode. To acquire necessary knowledge about the metal/solution interface, different metals, solvents, and adsorbates have been studied. 

According to Bockris and Habib, the potential difference at the metal/solution interface at pzc is a result of the contribution of two components the surface potential (electron overlap) of the metal go and solvent dipoles oriented at the electrode surface, go- The value of go cannot be experimentally measured because the absolute value of the electrode potential is not known. However, the value of go can be estimated from the relation... 

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