LE3 .A278 2011

2011

Zamlynny, Vlad

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Chemistry

Chemistry

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential capacitance (DC) were applied to study the adsorption of thin organic film of Au (111) single crystal electrode in both a neutral and basic environment. Prior to the adsorption mechanism being studied, the purity of the electrolyte and the surface configuration of the Au (111) electrode were verified and compared to literature of CV and DC. The research conducted explored the potentials where BTA is adsorbed and this was obtained to be at ‐0.6 V in a neutral electrolyte and a basic electrolyte. Reorientation peaks for a neutral environment were obtained at 0.1 V, while in a basic environment it was discovered to be ‐0.1 V. Both environments also showed compact film forming at certain potentials, 0.6 V in a neutral environment and 0.2 V for a basic environment. The BTA concentrations were also increased and those resulted in a negative shift of all the features observed in CV and DC data. The increasing of pH from 7 to 13, showed that at higher pH the lower capacitance that indicates a formation of BTA on the metal surface was at about 15 μF cm‐2. In a neutral environment the capacitance that indicated a formation of a BTA film on the surface was at 10μF cm‐2. This indicates that a higher capacitance has less of a compact film formed, providing less protection for the metal surface. The final aspect of this research shifted its focus to a more industrially relevant metal such as copper. The purity verification of the Cu (111) single crystal electrode was conducted.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:766