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Adequate electrochemical characterization of electrode material/biofilms is crucial for a comprehensive understanding and comparative performance of bioelectrochemical systems (BES). However, their responses are greatly affected by the metabolic activity and growth of these living entities and/or the interference of electrode wiring that can act as an electroactive surface for growth or constitute a source of contamination by corrosion. This restricts the meaningful comparison of the performance of distinct electrode materials in BES. This work describes a methodology for simultaneous electrochemical control and measurement of the microbial response on different electrode materials under the same physicochemical and biological conditions. The method is based on the use of a single channel potentiostat and one counter and reference electrodes to simultaneously polarize several electrode materials in a sole bioelectrochemical cell. Furthermore, various strategies to minimize wiring corrosion are proposed. The proposed methodology, then, will enable a more rigorous characterization of microbial electrochemical responses for comparisons purposes. • Experimental Set-up allows to polarize several working electrodes at the same time. • Chronoamperometry can be performed simultaneously with a potentiostat. • The physicochemical and biological conditions in each working electrode will be exactly the same, Graphical Abstract Image, graphical abstract

Carbonate and bicarbonate adsorption on Pt(111) electrodes from CO2-saturated acidic solutions is investigated by cyclic voltammetry and Fourier transform infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (FT-IRRAS). Spectroscopic results show carbonate and bicarbonate adsorption even at pH = 1, where bulk concentration of these anions is negligible. Moreover, analysis of the potential dependence of band intensities corresponding to adsorbed carbonate and bicarbonate reveals an effect of the electrode potential on the surface acid–base equilibrium. In this regard, increasing potentials favor bicarbonate deprotonation, leading to carbonate formation. A tentative thermodynamic analysis is given to rationalize these trends. Support from MINECO (Spain) through project CTQ2013-44083-P is greatly acknowledged. RMH thankfully acknowledges support from Generalitat Valenciana under the Santiago Grisolía Program (GRISOLIA/2013/008).

The continuous ozonation of benzalkonium chloride (BAC) and nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) has been performed in a synthetic water matrix and in a sewage treatment plant influent. This study aims to assess ozonation as pre-treatment of an activated sludge process, with emphasis on the toxicity of treated water. BAC was completely removed in synthetic matrix independently of the presence of NiO-NPs, although the ozone dose was influenced by NPs co-occurrence. The extent of mineralization was limited and a number of intermediate transformation products (TPs) appeared, twelve of which could be identified. The degradation pathway was shown to initiate both on the hydrophobic (alkyl chain) and hydrophilic (benzyl and ammonium moiety) region of the surfactant. The reactions on the hydrophilic region were affected by the presence of NiO-NPs as a consequence of the adsorption of BAC onto NP surface via the aromatic group. Water matrix strongly influenced BAC depletion. The aquatic toxicity of treated mixtures was assessed using a biotest battery composed of single species (the bacteria Vibrio fischeri and Pseudomonas putida and the protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila), as well as a whole biological community assay using activated sludge. Although, BAC showed considerable aquatic toxicity in all bioassays, ozonation decreased the toxic effects of treated water samples at ozone dosages below those required for total BAC depletion. Further treatment would not be justified, neither for a significant increase in BAC abatement nor concerning the toxicity of treated wastewater, which increased as a result of nickel leaching from the NPs.

Rh modified Au(111-25 nm) electrodes, prepared by electron beam evaporation and galvanostatic deposition, were employed to study adsorption and electro-oxidation of CO on Rh in 0.1 M sulfuric acid solution by in situ attenuated total reflection surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS). The results of ATR-SEIRAS experiments were compared with those obtained by infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy on three low-index Rh single crystal surfaces. The Rh film deposited on Au(111-25 nm) electrode consists of 3D clusters forming a highly stepped [n(111) × (111)]-like surface with narrow (111) terraces. When CO was dosed at the hydrogen adsorption potential region, CO adsorbed in both atop (COL) and bridge (COB) configurations, as well as coadsorbed water species, were detected on the Rh film electrode. A partial interconversion of spectroscopic bands due to the CO displacement from bridge to atop sites was found during the anodic potential scan, revealing that there is a potential-dependent preference of CO adsorption sites on Rh surfaces. Our data indicate that CO oxidation on Rh electrode surface in acidic media involves coadsorbed water and follows the nucleation and growth model of a Langmuir-Hinshelwood type reaction. The work was supported by the Research Center Jülich, the University of Bern, Swiss National Science Foundation (200020_144471, 200021-124643), the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (project CTQ2013-44083-P) and University of Alicante. QX acknowledges fellowships of the Research Center Jülich; IP acknowledges support by COST Action TD 1002; and AK acknowledges the financial support by CTI Swiss Competence Centers for Energy Research (SCCER Heat and Electricity Storage).

Palladium deposition on Pt(1 1 0) electrodes was studied. Differently from Pt(1 1 1) and Pt(1 0 0), first and further layers cannot be distinguished in this case only through the voltammetric behavior of hydrogen and anion adsorption. The potential of zero total charge (pztc) was determined as a function of the amount of deposited Pd using CO charge displacement experiments and voltammetric curves. The variation of the voltammetric charge due to hydrogen and anion adsorption has been followed during Pd deposition. The voltammetric charge between 0.06 and 0.4 V first decreases to a minimum, then increases and finally becomes stable, suggesting that the surface is finally covered with a Pd multilayer. The pztc and CO oxidation charge show similar behavior. CO oxidation, NO reduction and Cu UPD were used as probes to monitor Pd coverage. The potential of CO oxidation increases with Pd coverage while the potential of NO reduction decreases. Using the information obtained from Cu UDP and FTIR experiments it has been possible to determine when the first Pd single layer was completed and when a second (further) layer(s) starts to grow.

Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia of Spain[CTQ2010-16271]; China Scholarship Council; NSFC[20833005]

Understanding the structure and molecular processes at the electrode/membrane interfaces constitutes an important topic in PEFC as well as in electrochemistry. In this work, the Pt(111)/Nafion model interface in HClO4 acid solutions is studied by IRRAS and cyclic voltammetry. It was found that the presence of an electric field mainly promotes deprotonation of sulfonic groups and structuring of water inside the membrane (polar molecules), especially near the electrode surface, with a sudden change of system optical properties at the Pt(111)/membrane interface at 0.9 V, possibly due to clustering within the polymer. Furthermore, the performance of the Pt(111)/Nafion in a typical electrochemical reaction as CO oxidation has been also analyzed. It is shown that there are notable differences between the characteristics of CO adsorption and oxidation at Pt(111) with and without polymer electrolyte membrane, like a continual wavenumber increase with the potential for the on-top CO band, even during CO oxidation,...

In this study we report the effect of temperature on the catalytic ability of an electrochemically active biofilm based on mixed-culture to oxidize acetate and found the optimum temperature showing maximal catalytic activity and power output. Electrochemical characterization of biofilm and power output and internal resistance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) have been investigated at different temperatures. When temperature increased from 30 to 45 °C the catalytic ability of biofilms to oxidize acetate increased following the Arrhenius law with apparent activation energy of 44.85 kJ/mol. At temperatures higher than 48 °C, however, the bioelectrocatalytic current decreased. At 53 °C the bacterial metabolism was in inactivation. The optimum working temperature of the biofilm was 45 °C, producing current of 1339 µA cm−2. This current was almost three times higher than 527 µA cm−2 at 30 °C. The MFC performance at different temperatures showed consistent temperature dependence to that of a semi-batch cell, which implies that anode catalytic ability in MFC is the main limit factor for increasing power output. A maximum power output of 1065 mW m−2 was also observed at 45 °C and it was 1.5 times higher than 764 mW m−2 at 30 °C. The increased MFC performance from 30 °C to 45 °C is lower in comparison with about three times higher increase in semi-batch cells. This could be due to other factors such as proton migration rate in membrane of MFC, which can be seen from that the internal resistance value of 121.5 Ω in the MFC at 45 °C was only slightly lower than 177.6 Ω at 30 °C. Also, some other factors such as cell configuration which would limit the power output and can be further optimized. This work contributes to the study of influence from temperature on anodic electrochemically active biofilm activity and their subsequent influence on MFC performance and reports the optimal temperature for biofilm activity based on mixed-culture.

In this work we report on the occurrence of at least two different redox pairs on the cell surface of the electrogenic bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens adsorbed on gold that are expressed in response to the polarization potential. As previously reported on graphite (Environ. Sci. Technol. 42 (2008) 2445) a typical low potential redox pair is found centered at around − 0.06 V when cells are polarized for a few hours at 0.2 V, while a new pair centered at around 0.38 V is expressed upon polarization at 0.6 V. Reversible changes in the IR band pattern of whole cells where obtained by Attenuated Total Reflection-Surface Enhanced Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) upon potential cycling around both redox pairs. Changes clearly resemble the electrochemical turnover of oxidized/reduced states in c-type cytochromes, thus evidencing the nature of the involved molecules. The expression of external cytochromes in response to the potential of the electron acceptor suggests the existence of alternative pathways of electron transport with different energy yield, though it remains to be demonstrated. Fil: Busalmen, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigación en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Universidad de Alicante; España Fil: Esteve-Nuñez, Abraham. Centro de Astrobiología; España Fil: Berná, Antonio. Universidad de Alicante; España Fil: Feliu, Juan Miguel. Universidad de Alicante; España

In the present work the electrooxidation of methanol, 2-propanol and different mixtures of both alcohols has been studied on the three platinum basal planes in three different electrolytes (H 2 SO 4 , HClO 4 and NaOH). The results indicate that, like in the case of both individual alcohols, the electrooxidation of the mixture is a structure sensitive reaction and that Pt(1 1 1) leads to higher current densities for some mixture compositions as compared to what could be expected from the contribution of the individual compounds. The effect of the methanol concentration in the mixture points out that 2-propanol is the main reacting fuel at the Pt(1 1 1) surface. Interestingly, the addition of methanol clearly has a positive effect on 2-propanol oxidation. For a specific mixture composition, while results from cyclic voltammetry indicate a modest twofold increase in current density, chronoamperometric results after 10 min experiment show a nearly 200 times higher current density. IR experiments have been performed to gain information about the enhancement mechanism. Nevertheless, we have found that both methanol and 2-propanol seem to follow the same mechanism as they follow in the absence of the other alcohol, and therefore the enhancement could be probably related to a competitive adsorption for the active surface sites.

The variation of electrode nature and surface structure (the use of stepped single crystal faces with controlled width of (1 1 1) terraces and monoatomic steps of (1 0 0) or (1 1 0) orientation) allows to determine peculiarities of co-adsorption of acetonitrile molecules, hydrogen adatoms and (bi)sulfate anions. It has been shown that first of all acetonitrile blocks adsorption sites at the steps. Anion adsorption at terraces of stepped platinum surfaces in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution with additions of acetonitrile depends on terrace width and the step orientation. This demonstrates the important role of structural factors in competitive adsorption processes. The decrease in adsorption of hydrogen and anions on narrow terraces is substantially due to the influence of acetonitrile molecules placed at the steps or nearby sites. At E < 1.0 V, electrochemical conversion of acetonitrile has not been detected at single crystal Pt surfaces. However, acetonitrile oxidation might proceed on polycrystalline platinum followed by product desorption. On Au(1 1 1) surface acetonitrile adsorption is considerably weaker than that on platinum electrodes.

Conventional electrochemical methods have been applied to study the oxidation of a possible alternative fuel for a direct oxidation fuel cell. The electrooxidation of dimethoxymethane (DMM) was investigated on the three low index planes, (1 0 0), (1 1 0) and (1 1 1) of platinum single crystals and compared with its oxidation on a platinum polycrystalline electrode. Among platinum electrodes, electroreactivity of DMM observed is Pt(1 1 1) > Pt(1 0 0) > Pt(1 1 0) ∼ Pt poly. Hydrogen adsorption is limited by the presence of DMM, except for Pt(1 1 1) plane. In situ IR experiments show the presence of bands of COads with all electrodes except Pt(1 1 1). This work shows that the mechanism of DMM electrooxidation is structure sensitive. A path takes place on Pt(1 0 0) and Pt(1 1 0) which is favourable to the formation of COads. Another path proceeds on Pt(1 1 1), where COads is not present and reaction does not occur at low potential. Results indicate that peak intensities are higher in perchloric acid than in sulphuric acid. So DMM adsorption is dependent on the specific adsorption of the anions. In situ IR reflectance spectroscopy identified some intermediates and reaction products of DMM adsorption and electrooxidation on Pt electrodes: COL (linearly bonded) and COB (bridge bonded), adsorbed CHO and CH3O species, methanol and CO2. The electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical experiments suggest a complex mechanism of DMM electrooxidation.

(Figure Presented) Down to the wire: electro-active bacteria that exchange electrons with solid electrodes are studied by electrochemical and infrared techniques. The approach allows the identification of cell-surface molecules involved in the direct electron transfer to the electrode, a development that is crucial for future utilization of these electricity-producing microorganisms. Fil: Busalmen, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentina Fil: Esteve Núñez, Abraham. Universidad de Alicante; España Fil: Berná Galiano, Antonio. Universidad de Alicante; España Fil: Miguel Feliu, Juan. Universidad de Alicante; España

Classical electroanalytical techniques and in situ FTIR are used to study the oxidative chemisorption of catechol (o-H(2)Q) and the hydrogen-assisted reductive desorption of catechol-derived adlayers (o-Q((ads))) at nearly defect-free Pt(111) single-crystal electrodes in 0.5 M H(2)SO(4). At near equilibrium conditions (lim(upsilon-->0)) the cyclic voltammetric response does not conform to the behavior expected from classical models of molecular adsorption at electrochemical interfaces. Instead, attractive interactions play a controlling role, i.e., hydrogen-assisted displacement of o-Q((ads)) takes place as an electrochemically reversible two-dimensional (2D) phase transition controlled by collision-nucleation-growth phenomena in the presence of 2 mM o-H(2)Q((aq)). In contrast, different desorption dynamics are observed when the reductive desorption of the adlayers is carried out in clean (0 mM o-H(2)Q((aq)) supporting electrolyte. Donor-acceptor (DA) interactions between the Pt(111)/o-Q((ads)) surface adduct and o-H(2)Q((aq)) are postulated as a possible intervening mechanism leading to the observed differences in the macroscopic electrochemical responses. The results also demonstrate that in aqueous solutions it is thermodynamically feasible to shift the formal oxidation potential of catechol-metal adducts to potentials near those of molecular hydrogen via chemically reversible, nondissociative interactions, taking place as a 2D phase transition.

Acetate adsorption at gold electrodes is studied in perchloric acid solutions by cyclic voltammetry and in-situ infrared spectroscopy. External reflection measurements, performed with gold single crystal electrodes, are combined with Surface Enhanced Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy experiments under attenuated total reflection conditions (ATR-SEIRAS) carried out with sputtered gold thin-film electrodes. Theoretical harmonic IR frequencies of acetate species adsorbed with different geometries on Au clusters with (1 1 1), (1 0 0) and (1 1 0) orientations have been obtained from B3LYP/LANL2DZ, 6–31 + G* calculations. The theoretical and experimental results confirm that, irrespective of the surface crystallographic orientation, bonding of acetate to the surface involves the two oxygen atoms of the carboxylate group, with the OCO plane perpendicular to the metal surface. DFT calculations reveal also that the total charge of the metal cluster–acetate supermolecule has small effect on the vibrational frequencies of adsorbed acetate species. Both the external and the internal reflection measurements show the co-adsorption of acetate and perchlorate anions. Step-scan measurements carried out with the gold thin-film electrodes have allowed the monitoring of the time-dependent behaviour of perchlorate, acetate and water bands in potential step experiments. Acetate adsorption under those conditions is shown to involve perchlorate desorption and to follow a Langmuir-type kinetics. The step-scan spectra also show the rise and decay of transient water structures with parallel time-dependent shifts of the background intensity in the infrared spectra.

The adsorption of hydroxyl on Pt(111) single crystal electrodes from aqueous acidic solutions is carefully reinvestigated. The effect of small additions (10−8–10−5 M) of chloride and bisulphate anions on the OH adsorption region in perchloric acid solution has been studied. Two regions can be differentiated in the voltammetric profile, that behave differently after the addition of the foreign anion. The initial broad adsorption process is unaffected until the highest concentration is attained. However, the sharper peak at higher potentials is affected even at the lower anion concentration. Since mass transport limitations allow to discard the anion adsorption as the main process giving this peak, we propose that the two processes are due to the dissociative adsorption of two different kinds of water, that are affected by the anion in a different way. From this idea, a new model, based on the Frumkin adsorption isotherm, is proposed, which gives an excellent fit of the experimental results. Keywords: Pt(111), Single crystal electrodes, Hydroxyl adsorption, Anion adsorption, Frumkin isotherm

The adsorption of malonic and succinic acids and their anions at gold electrodes has been studied by in situ infrared spectroscopy by combining external and internal reflection experiments performe...

The formation of submonolayers of palladium on well-defined Pt(1 0 0) electrodes is described. It has been found that the adsorption of NO at open circuit and its further reductive stripping enable the possibility to prepare Pt(1 0 0) electrodes fully covered by the first palladium layer, without contributions coming from palladium in the subsequent layers. This method enables a better characterization of the palladium islands formed in the submonolayer range. The CO displacement method points out that hydrogen and anion adsorption play a role in the charge transfer processes involved in the voltammetric profile. The analysis of the charge-potential curves is used to determine the values of the potentials of zero total charge (pztc) of the different adelectrodes. The pztc diminishes almost linearly with palladium coverage, this shift being related to increasing anion adsorption at low potentials. Adsorbed palladium does not electrocatalyze the oxidation of adsorbed CO.

Spectroelectrochemical experiments and density functional theory (DFT) based calculations are combined to elucidate the nature of the species adsorbed when a perchloric acid solution saturated with carbon dioxide is in contact with well-defined electrode surfaces. Previous results reported for the Pt(111) electrode are revised and completed with new data for a palladium monolayer deposited on the Pt(111) electrode. From the DFT calculations and from the potential and pH dependent behavior of the main adsorbate vibrational bands, it is suggested that, for potentials below 0.65 V, bicarbonate species are adsorbed at the Pt(111) electrode surface in a short-bridge bidentate configuration. At higher potentials, the adsorbate adlayer is completed by the formation of adsorbed carbonate also in a short-bridge configuration. The ratio between the surface coverages of adsorbed bicarbonate and carbonate depends on both the electrode potential and the solution pH. Adsorbed bicarbonate prevails at the palladium monol...

Oxalic acid adsorption has been studied at platinum single crystal electrodes belonging to the [011] zone. Cyclic voltammetry and charge displacement experiments have been combined with in situ external reflection infrared experiments and results compared with those previously reported for the Pt(1 1 1) and Pt(1 0 0) electrodes. The spectroscopic data confirm the potential dependent behaviour of oxalic acid adsorption derived from the electrochemical experiments. At the same time, the infrared spectra show distinct CO stretching bands for adsorbates on (1 0 0) and (1 1 1) terraces. As previously concluded for Pt(1 0 0) and Pt(1 1 1) electrodes, oxalate and bioxalate anions are adsorbed, respectively, at the (1 0 0) and (1 1 1) terraces for potentials above 0.30 V. Oxalate and bioxalate anions adsorb at edge and step sites at potentials lower than at terrace sites. For Pt(2n−1,1,1) = Pt(S)[n(1 0 0) × (1 1 1)], bands are observed at potentials higher than 0.20 V that can be assigned to oxalate anions adsorbed at (1 0 0) edge sites and bioxalate adsorbed at (1 1 1) step sites. In the case of Pt(n+1,n−1,n−1) = Pt(S)[n(1 1 1) × (1 0 0)] electrodes, bands for oxalate anions adsorbed at the (1 0 0) step sites appears at potentials lower than bands for bioxalate adsorption at the (1 1 1) terrace sites. For all the stepped surfaces, adsorbed CO is slowly formed at the step sites in the hydrogen adsorption region. The extent of this process can be minimised during the collection of the infrared spectra by taking the reference spectrum at 0.20 V.

Oxalic acid adsorption and oxidation processes have been studied at platinum single crystal electrodes with basal orientations. Cyclic voltammetry and charge displacement experiments have been combined with in situ external reflection infrared experiments for the study of oxalic acid adsorption at potentials below 0.70 V. Whereas reversible anion-like adsorption is observed for Pt(100) and Pt(111) electrodes, oxalic acid is reduced at Pt(110) leading to the formation of an irreversibly bonded adsorbate which has been identified as adsorbed CO from the infrared spectra. Spectroscopic data confirm the potential dependent behaviour of oxalic acid adsorption on Pt(111) and Pt(100) electrodes derived from electrochemical data. At the same time, the infrared spectra show distinct C–O stretching bands for adsorbates on Pt(100) and P(111). In acidic solutions (pH = 1), for which oxalic acid and bioxalate anions predominate as solution species, oxalate anions are adsorbed at the Pt(100) electrode surface whereas bioxalate anions seem to be the adsorbed species at Pt(111). In neutral solutions, oxalate anions are adsorbed on both Pt(111) and Pt(100) surfaces. No intermediates coming from oxalic acid other than adsorbed CO for Pt(110) and adsorbed (bi)oxalate anions for Pt(111) and Pt(100) are detected during the oxidation of oxalic acid. Adsorbate bands are observed between 1400 and 1600 cm −1 for the Pt(111) electrode for potentials between 0.85 and 1.0 V. These bands are related to adsorbed carbonate anions formed in the presence of carbon dioxide molecules generated from oxalic acid oxidation.

In the current study, the relationship between current and biomass and bio-adhesion mechanism of electrogenic biofilm on electrode were investigated using EQCM and ATR-SEIRAS linking electrochemistry. The results indicated that cellular biomass of biofilm on QCM-crystal surface showed maximum value of 6.0 μg/cm2 in initial batch and 11.5 μg/cm2 in the second batch on mature biofilm, producing a similar maximum current density of 110 μA/μg. Especially, the optimum cell biomass linking high electricity production ratio (110 μA/μg) occurred before maximum biomass coming, implying that over-growth mature biofilm is not an optimum state for enhancing power output of MFCs. On the other hand, the spectra using ATR-SEIRAS technique linking electrochemistry obviously exhibited water structure adsorption change at early biofilm formation and meanwhile the water adsorption accompanied the adsorbed bacteria and the bound cells population on the electrode increased with time. Meanwhile, the direct contact of bacteria and electrode via outer-membrane protein can be confirmed via a series spectra shift at amide I and amide II modes and water movement from negative bands displacing by adsorbed bacteria. Our study provided supplementary information about the interaction between the microbes and electrode beyond traditional electrochemistry. This work was supported by project from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21375107) and University of Alicante through Project CTQ2013-44083-P.

Ethanol oxidation has been studied on stepped platinum single crystal electrodes in acid media using electrochemical and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques. The electrodes used belong to two different series of stepped surfaces: those having (111) terraces with (100) monoatomic steps and those with (111) terraces with (110) monoatomic steps. The behaviors of the two series of stepped surfaces for the oxidation of ethanol are very different. On the one hand, the presence of (100) steps on the (111) terraces provides no significant enhancement of the activity of the surfaces. On the other hand, (110) steps have a double effect on the ethanol oxidation reaction. At potentials below 0.7 V, the step catalyzes the C-C bond cleavage and also the oxidation of the adsorbed CO species formed. At higher potentials, the step is not only able to break the C-C bond, but also to catalyze the oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid and acetaldehyde. The highest catalytic activity from voltammetry for ethanol oxidation was obtained with the Pt(554) electrode.

Ethanol oxidation has been studied on Pt(111), Pt(100) and Pt(110) electrodes in order to investigate the effect of the surface structure and adsorbing anions using electrochemical and FTIR techniques. The results indicate that the surface structure and anion adsorption affect significantly the reactivity of the electrode. Thus, the main product of the oxidation of ethanol on the Pt(111) electrode is acetic acid, and acetaldehyde is formed as secondary product. Moreover, the amount of CO formed is very small, and probably associated with the defects present on the electrode surface. For that reason, the amount of CO2 is also small. This electrode has the highest catalytic activity for the formation of acetic acid in perchloric acid. However, the formation of acetic acid is inhibited by the presence of specifically adsorbed anions, such as (bi)sulfate or acetate, which is the result of the formation of acetic acid. On the other hand, CO is readily formed at low potentials on the Pt(100) electrode, blocking completely the surface. Between 0.65 and 0.80 V, the CO layer is oxidized and the production of acetaldehyde and acetic acid is detected. The Pt(110) electrode displays the highest catalytic activity for the splitting of the C–C bond. Reactions giving rise to CO formation, from either ethanol or acetaldehyde, occur at high rate at any potential. On the other hand, the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid has probably the lower reaction rate of the three basal planes.

Oxidation of ethanol on ruthenium-modified Pt(775) and Pt(332) stepped electrodes has been studied using electrochemical and FTIR techniques. It has been found that the oxidation of ethanol on these electrodes takes place preferentially on the step sites yielding CO(2) as the major final product. The cleavage of the C-C bond, which is the required step to yield CO(2), occurs only on this type of site. The presence of low ruthenium coverages on the step sites promotes the complete oxidation of ethanol since it facilitates the oxidation of CO formed on the step from the cleavage of the C-C bond. However, high ruthenium coverages have an important inhibiting effect since the adatoms block the step sites, which are required for the cleavage of the C-C bond. Under these conditions, the oxidation current diminishes and the major product in the oxidation process is acetic acid, which is the product formed preferentially on the (111) terrace sites.

Publisher Summary This chapter illustrates the in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies on the acid–base equilibria of adsorbed species on well-defined metal electrode surfaces. Infrared spectroscopy is one of the most useful techniques mainly used for the in-situ characterization of interfaces at a molecular level. The infrared window is used as the substrate for the deposition of a thin metal film which acts as the working electrode. Adsorbates on metallic thin film electrodes exhibit enhanced infrared absorption. The external reflection configuration can be used to study the structural aspects of the adsorption processes. It can also be used to probe the reflecting surface of any bulk electrode material. The specific adsorption of anions plays a pivotal role in the understanding of electrochemical reactions. In-situ infrared spectroscopy has been used in an external reflection configuration. Cyclic voltammetry and in-situ infrared experiments were performed in perchloric acid solutions in the presence of carbon dioxide. The role of surface site distribution on the surface acid–base equilibria of oxalic acid are explored for the platinum electrodes.

The adsorption and oxidation of oxalic acid at gold electrodes were studied by in-situ infrared spectroscopy. External reflection experiments carried out with gold single-crystal electrodes were combined with internal reflection (ATR-SEIRAS) experiments with gold thin-film electrodes. These gold thin films, with a typical thickness of ca. 35 nm, were deposited on silicon substrates by argon sputtering. As previously reported for evaporated gold films, the voltammetric curves obtained in sulfuric acid solutions after electrochemical annealing show typical features related to the presence of wide bidimensional (111) domains with long-range order. The in-situ infrared data collected for solutions of pH 1 confirmed the potential-dependent adsorption of either oxalate (Au(100)) or a mixture of bioxalate and oxalate (Au(111), Au(110), and gold thin films) anions in a bidentate configuration. The better signal-to-noise ratio associated with the SEIRA effect in the case of the gold thin-film electrodes allows the observation of the carbonyl band for adsorbed bioxalate that was not detected in the external reflection experiments. Besides, additional bands are observed between 2000 and 3000 cm(-)(1) that can be tentatively related to the formation of hydrogen bonds between neighboring bioxalate anions. The intensities of these bands decrease with increasing solution pH values, disappearing for pH 3 solutions in which adsorbed oxalate anions are the predominant species. The analysis of the intensities of the nu(s)(O-C-O) and nu(C-OH) + delta(C-O-H) bands for adsorbed oxalate and bioxalate, respectively, suggests that the pK(a) for the surface equilibrium between these species is significantly lower than that for the solution equilibrium.

The adsorption of CO on low index copper single crystals in electrochemical environments has been investigated. The results, analysed through a combination of in situ infrared spectroscopy, DFT and cyclic voltammetry, reveal a unique adsorption behaviour when compared to previous studies on copper and the more widely studied noble metal surfaces. By employing small, weakly specifically adsorbed electrolytes, it is shown that carbon monoxide is adsorbed over a much wider electrode potential range than previously reported. The electrochemical Stark shift (δν/δE) observed is similar for the three Cu(hkl) surfaces examined despite different surface coverages. Most notably, however, is an electrochemical feature observed at ca. -1.0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) on the (110) surface. It is proposed that this voltammetric feature arises from the reduction/oxidation of Cu(δ+) surface sites involved in the binding of carbon monoxide with the participation of the electrolyte anion. This provides additional specific sites for CO adsorption. DFT calculations support the proposed presence of low-coordination copper sites stabilised by electrolyte anions. An experimental electron transfer rate constant of 4.2 s(-1) to the Cu(δ+) surface sites formed was found. These new observations concerning the surface electrochemistry of CO on Cu indicate that the electrocatalytic behaviour of Cu electrodes in processes such as CO(2) reduction need to be re-evaluated to take account of the rich adsorption behaviour of CO, including the co-adsorption of the electrolyte anion to these sites.