A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MECHANISM OF REDUCED CO2 ADSORBATES ELECTROOXIDATION FROM COMBINED SPECTROELECTROCHEMICAL AND VOLTAMMETRIC DATA

The nature of reduced CO2 adsorbates, as well as the mechanisms for th eir electro-oxidation on platinum, have been reviewed through the ligh t of new experimental data obtained by cyclic voltammetry and by Fouri er transform infrared reflectance spectroscopy. Three different ''redu ced'' CO2 adsorbates are described as ''ensembles''. It is suggested t hat they involve different extents of adsorbed entities, among which w eakly bound and strongly bound hydrogen atoms play the most important role.