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Theory for interfacial proton transfer voltammetry of a molecular film containing any acid/base loading has been developed under equilibrium conditions. Diagnostic criteria to disentangle the interplay between diffuse layer and ionization effects are outlined. Easy-to-use analytical expressions for the voltammetric features are derived for the particular case of an invariant diffuse layer effect, which turn out to be entirely analogous to those for a surface redox conversion with Frumkin interactions. It is demonstrated that, regardless of the electrolyte concentration, significant ionization of the external acid groups located nearby the diffuse layer is sufficient for the fulfillment of this relevant particular case. A strategy is outlined to determine the amount, the intrinsic pKa, and the burial depth of the voltammetrically active groups from the surface concentration dependence of the main voltammetric features. Self-assembled monolayers of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid deposited on Au(111), containing higher amounts of buried carboxylic groups than previously reported, have been studied to assess more critically the influence of electrostatic effects on the ionization process. Preliminary evidence suggests that the protonation/deprotonation voltammetric wave involves physisorbed rather than chemisorbed thiol molecules. Application of the present theoretical approach to this system reveals that the voltammetrically active carboxylic groups are located close to the electrode surface and become more acidic upon increasing their surface concentration.

Direct determination of the adsorption free energy for extremely low surface coverages (Henry limit) requires the use of a technique that must be highly sensitive to both the amount and the energetics of adsorbed molecules. Herein, we demonstrate that diffusional surface voltammetry (DSV), which embodies film and stripping voltammetries as two limiting cases, can be used to achieve this goal for electroactive adsorbates. To this end, a general analytical expression for the surface voltammetric peak potential of DSV is derived, which covers the full range of scan rates, bulk concentrations, and adsorptivity of the freely diffusing form of the redox couple, so that the surface redox conversion can be either equilibrated with or transport-isolated from the solution bulk. Strategies to get a quantitative insight into the energetics of electrosorption are outlined, and diagnostic criteria for their application are developed. In particular, it is demonstrated that DSV can be used in its stripping mode to determine group contributions to the adsorption free energy, avoiding possible interferences from intermolecular interactions or formation of oligomeric species. Application of this protocol to the reductive desorption of distinct homologous series of alkylthiolates adsorbed at mercury electrodes has allowed us to determine the contributions of the CH(n) groups (n = 0-3) to the free energy of adsorption of these molecules. These estimates are shown to correlate linearly with the corresponding group contributions to the octanol-water partition coefficient, revealing that adsorption of individual hydrocarbon groups at the mercury/solution interface scales with their hydrophobicity. Overall, the present work enlarges the capability of surface voltammetry to probe adsorption energetics down to the micromolar level, and it represents a first step toward the development of a unified treatment of stripping and film voltammetries.