INFRARED REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY OF THE COPPER-VERTICAL-BAR-AQUEOUS BORAX INTERFACE IN THE PRESENCE OF THIOUREA AND CYANOTHIOACETAMIDE

The influence of thiourea and cyanothioacetamide on the anodic propert ies of copper has been investigated by reflectance infrared spectrosco py, cyclic voltammetry and rotating disk electrode techniques. It is s hown that thiourea acts as a ligand for Cu dissolution in aqueous bora x whereas cyanothioacetamide reacts with Cu(I) to form an insoluble fi lm at the electrode surface. The main IR peaks observed can be ascribe d to the formation of copper complexes and it is shown that IR spectro scopy is a useful tool for the characterisation of metal dissolution p roducts when ligands are present in the solution. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sc ience S.A.