THE ADSORPTION OF HYDROXIDE IONS ON METALS

A short review of the available data on hydroxide ion adsorption on go ld, platinum and copper in alkaline electrolytes shows that these data are scarce owing to the absence of in situ surface techniques suffici ently sensitive to hydroxide adsorbate on metals. A new contact electr oresistance (CER) method for investigation in situ of metal surfaces i n electrolytes and their dependencies upon the potential and electroly te composition is briefly discussed. The CER method was shown to be hi ghly sensitive to adsorption of electrolyte species which negatively c harge the interface, i.e. to anion adsorption, in particular, to hydro xide ion adsorption. The presented CER data on hydroxide ion adsorptio n on gold, platinum and copper do not contradict the known data and, a s a rule, have a more detailed character. Results on hydroxide ion ads orption on silver, iron and tungsten electrodes are also reported. Fin ally, the CER method is assumed to serve as a useful tool for investig ation of hydroxide ion adsorption on any metal or alloy. (C) 1998 Else vier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.