The electrochemical deposition of mercury on glassy carbon electrodes : a thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Science in Chemistry at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Date
2000
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Massey University
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Abstract
The mechanism for the reduction of Hg2+ on glassy carbon in aqueous acetate and nitrate electrolyte was studied. This deposition process is of interest due to the wide electroanalytical applications of mercury thin film electrodes. It was found in the early stages of this work that even though the use of these electrodes is wide spread, there has been little investigation into how the deposition stage occurs. The electrochemical techniques used were cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. A range of experiments were undertaken including concentration dependence, rotation dependence, scan rate dependence, electrochemical-cleaning, and the dependence of the length of time left at open potential. The acetate experiments were carried out at a constant pH of 5.0 and all experiments were carried out at a constant temperature of 20°C. Significant dependence was established in the cyclic voltammetry work for all the experimental conditions. In acetate electrolyte the development of peaks C1 and C2 were seen after cycling of the electrode without mechanical-cleaning. A shift in the reduction potential from a mechanically-cleaned electrode cycle to the next cycle without intervening cleaning was also observed. Two new anodic peaks, A2 and A3, were also seen in acetate electrolyte. At high concentrations cathodic current spikes were observed at the extreme cathodic limits of the voltammograms. The response that was observed in nitrate electrolyte was dissimilar to that in acetate. The shift in reduction potential, current spikes, peaks C1, C2, A2, and A3, were never observed for the deposition of Hg2+ in nitrate electrolyte. The chronoamperometry work on microelectrodes led to a number of new phenomena. Transients that were obtained from these experiments lead to the development of a quantitative nucleation and growth model for the growth of hemispherical mercury droplets. At the onset of reduction the transients follow a t2 function which is in accordance with surface area dependence growth of the droplet. However, after a short length of time, the transients start to follow a function of t 1/2, which is suggestive of perimeter growth control. This is assumed to be due to the formation of a semi-passivating Hg2(OAc)2 film over the mercury droplet where Hg2+2 forms as a result of a disproportionation reaction. A qualitative model was also developed to account for the observations of both the microelectrode results and most of the features seen in the cyclic voltammetry work.
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Electrodes, Electroplating, Electrochemical metallizing, Mercury