Electrochemical properties of sulfur adsorbed on gold electrodes

The electrochemical properties of sulfur adsorbed on gold electrodes were studied in 10^?5M solutions of S^2? in 1 M NaOH. In general, ∵_S is less than a monolayer. At E=0.05 V only, a monolayer will be formed after long times. The sulfur layer is stable in the potential range between ?0.6 and +0.4 V. At lower potentials, sulfur can be desorbed cathodically (charge Q_red), but at higher potentials, where layers of gold oxide are formed, the sulfur is oxidized anodically (charge Q_ox). From the ratio Q_red·6/Q_ox=γ, the electrosorption valency γ=?2 is obtained. This means, that the sulfide ions are almost completely discharged during adsorption. The same layer can be formed by adsorption from polysulfide solutions, which can be explained by a break of the sulfur bond and adsorption of single sulfur atoms. The double layer capacity decreases during adsorption of sulfur indicating the formation of an insulating sulfur layer with a dielectric constant of about 2. The anodic adsorption of sulfide ions is limited by diffusion only. For longer polarisation times, the coverage is independent of time, i.e. place exchange reactions between Au and S can be excluded. The cathodic desorption as well as the anodic oxidation of the adsorbed sulfur are potential dependent charge transfer processes, as can be concluded from potentiodynamic measurements with various sweep rates.