The influence of cathodic pretreatment on the kinetics of hydroxide ion oxidation on polycrystalline gold electrode

Abstract

The electrochemical oxidation of the hydroxide ion was studied on a gold rotating disc electrode (RDE), in aqueous NaOH solutions in the presence of lithium perchlorate as a supporting electrolyte. By potentiodynamic polarization within the limits -1.6 V and +1.6 V vs. SCE, it was demonstrated that the overvoltage of the OH- ion oxidation reaction may be significantly reduced with a 5 min long delay at the vertex cathodic potential of -1.6 V. This finding was explained in terms of the type of gold oxide formed on the gold surface under different experimental conditions. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.