Mechanism of interaction of molecular hydrogen with adsorbed oxygen on platinum electrodes under open circuit conditions

Transients of open-circuit potential observed at the reaction of hydrogen molecules with oxygen preliminarily adsorbed (O_ads) on the smooth polycrystalline (pc Pt) and platinized platinum (Pt/Pt) electrodes are measured under conditions of controlled stirring of solution (0.5 M H₂ SO₄). The dependence of the surface coverage with O_ads(θ_O) on the potential in the cause of the potential decay on pc Pt are determined. It is found that for Pt/Pt, the reaction kinetics is largely determined by diffusion of H₂. For pc Pt in the range of high θ_O, the Eley-Ridiel mechanism is realized. For medium θ_O, the regions where the reaction obeys the mechanisms of Eley-Ridiel, “conjugated reactions”, and diffusion control are observed to overlap (even at the most intense stirring possible). The rate of H₂ reaction with O_ads is substantially higher compared with analogous reactions of CO, HCOOH, and CH₃OH.