VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY AT METAL-SOLUTION INTERFACES - SOME PERSPECTIVES AND PROSPECTS FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL SURFACE SCIENCE

Some recent applications of surface vibrational spectroscopies to elec trochemical and related interfacial systems are illustrated by means o f studies undertaken in the authors' laboratory. The utility of infrar ed reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) for linking the structura l behavior of adsorbates on ordered metal surfaces in electrochemical and vacuum environments is discussed with reference to a vacuum-based study of CO/D2O coadsorption on Pt(111), The use of atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy in tandem with in-situ IRAS for electroc hemical adlayer structural elucidation is noted. Some virtues of surfa ce-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for examining metal-adsorbate vi brations on transition metals in both electrochemical and high-pressur e gas-phase systems are also briefly illustrated, specifically for rho dium surface oxidation.