An ac voltammetry study of Pt oxide growth

AC voltammetry of polycrystalline Pt in sulfuric acid solutions has been used to study the growth kinetics of the thin anodic Pt oxide film. Data were collected from 2 Hz to 50 kHz, one frequency per cycle, and were analyzed in the complex impedance plane. The faradaic process was modeled as a resistance parallel to the double-layer impedance, with a value approximately independent of potential in the do voltammetry plateau region. The equivalent circuit for the known growth law is derived and is shown to be a series RC combination. The capacitance was not detected but is expected to have a negligible effect in the measured frequency range. The value of the resistance found was consistent with the growth law found in other experiments. Evidence for additional faradaic elements in the equivalent circuit was inconclusive. We found no additional features in the impedance spectra at higher frequencies that could be associated with the fast electrosorption of OH suggested by other workers. The reversibility of the early stages of growth is therefore associated with structural reversibility rather than a fast process.