Underpotential deposition of thallium, lead, and cadmium at silver electrodes modified with self-assembled monolayers of (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane

Investigation of the underpotential deposition (UPD) of three metals-Tl, Pb, and Cd-on Ag surfaces modified with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (3MPT) is reported. On the basis of the observation of negative potential shifts for their UPD processes, Tl and Pb undergo UPD directly on the underlying Ag surface by insertion between the Ag-S bond. This process is proposed to occur by penetration of the 3MPT monolayer by hydrated metal ions through spaces in six-membered siloxane rings that form at the terminus of the 3MPT layer after hydrolysis and condensation. In contrast, Cd does not undergo similarly facile UPD at 3MPT-modified Ag electrodes due to a hydrated ion size too large to fit through these openings. The voltammetric evidence that suggests that the hydrated metal cation size, as described by the Stokes diameter, is the primary determinant of Ag electrode accessibility for UPD through the cross-linked 3MPT layer is further supported by molecular mechanics energy minimization computations of six-membered siloxane rings on each of the three low-index faces of Ag. Finally, the 3MPT monolayer is shown to be exceptionally stable to repeated UPD/stripping cycles of Tl and Pb in contrast to SAMs of similar thickness formed from normal alkanethiols.     

Underpotential deposition of copper on electrodes modified with colloidal gold

This communication is concerned with the electrochemical addressability of gold colloidal particles deposited on a conducting substrate. Cyclic voltammetry of electrodes modified with gold colloid layers indicates that an underpotential deposition of copper onto the gold surface takes place. Analysis of the charge associated with the underpotential deposition permits the electroactive gold area to be calculated. The total gold area may be determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. Comparison of the geometric and electroactive areas obtained indicates that electrochemically all the gold particles are addressable and the entire colloid surface is accessible.     

Surface-enhanced Raman spectrometry with silver particles on stochastic-post substrates

A special type of substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (s.e.r.s.) is evaluated. The substrates consist of silver particles deposited on stochastically arranged SiO₂ posts produced by plasma etching of a quartz surface using a silver island film as an etch mask. The optimization of various experimental parameters such as silver layer thickness, silver evaporation angle, and excitation energy are discussed in detail. Comparative studies with p-nitrobenzoic acid as the model compound indicate that this present substrate is at least one order of magnitude more effective than other common s.e.r.s. substrates, such as the silver island film and the crossed-grating surface, which were previously found to induce the strongest s.e.r.s. signals. The preparation of these silver-particle-post substrates avoids the elaborate lithographic procedures required for crossed-grating structures. The quantitation of species in a three-component mixture illustrates the selectivity of the s.e.r.s. technique.     

Underpotential deposition studies of copper on glassy carbon

Studies on the deposition and dissolution of copper from 0·5 M sulphuric acid solutions onto glassy carbon (GC) using potential sweep techniques indicated that an additional peak occurs at higher positive potentials than the bulk stripping peak. This peak is identified as due to the stripping of underpotential deposited (UPD) copper. Results of investigations on the effect of sweep rate, deposition potential and time of deposition on the peak characteristics of UPD and bulk deposited copper are also reported.     

Underpotential deposition of Cu on partially oxidized Rh electrodes

The underpotential deposition (UPD) of copper on partially oxidized rhodium electrodes was studied in acid medium using potentiodynamic techniques. The process was analyzed as a function of the potential and time of deposition. The potentiodynamic I-E patterns for the oxidative dissolution of Cu provide evidence for the existence of a chemical reaction between Cu and oxygen existing on the electrode surface. Redistribution of the active sites is also possible when appreciable quantities of oxidized species are simultaneously reduced by the UPD process. The partially oxidized rhodium electrodes were prepared by cyclic voltammetry and anodic polarization. The later method provided the most oxidized surfaces, but, even in this case, the degree of oxygen surface coverage was lower than that corresponding to a monolayer. Received: 11 July 1997 / Accepted: 10 February 1998     

Underpotential deposition of copper on electrochemically treated polycrystalline Au surfaces

Cyclic voltammetric responses of electrochemically treated polycrystalline gold surfaces have been examined using Cu-UPD probe reactions (UPD-underpotential deposition). The treatment procedure used appears to induce preferential crystal orientation of the Au surface with a very small roughness factor and affords a simple method to obtain well-defined surfaces for electrochemical studies.     

Photochemical method of silver deposition on a quartz surface modified by polybutoxytitanium

The results of silver photochemical deposition on a surface of titanium-containing coatings are presented. The formation of the particles occurs in a near-surface layer with a direct involvement of the coating which gains an anatase structure under the action of UV light. The deposition of silver begins with the formation of low-atomic clusters which reach particle sizes of 300 nm in diameter and 35–40 nm in thickness under long irradiation. The quantum yield of the reduction of Ag(I) ions is 0.001.     

Spontaneous deposition of Pt‐nanoparticles on HOPG surfaces

Pt nanoparticles were spontaneously generated by immersion of a highly ordered pyrolytic graphite substrate in a 1 mM H₂PtCl₆ + 0.05 M H₂SO₄ plating solution using different immersion times, modifying both size and density of the deposits. Atomic force microscopy images show Pt particles distributed preferentially on surface defects of the electrode, increasing their size and density with deposition time. Scanning electronic microscopy/energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy images confirmed the formation of Pt deposits after 2 h immersion, forming irregular agglomerates with different sizes distributed over the surface. The open circuit potential studies showed potentials close to the corresponding PtCl₆^2?/Pt and PtCl₄^2?/Pt couples, which would indicate that some of these processes took place at the interface. The voltammetric response of the supported Pt nanoparticles showed an increase in current density towards the hydrogen evolution reaction being more pronounced for deposits formed after an immersion time of 2 h. In this case, the voltammetric behavior was similar to polycrystalline Pt. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A turbidimetric method to measure isoelectric points and particles deposition onto massive substrates

A simple experimental approach was developed to determine the adhesion rate of particles onto massive substrate. Turbidimetry measurements are used to follow the evolution of particle concentration in a suspension in dynamic contact with the walls of a vessel made of different materials. This method allows to rapidly obtain qualitative results about the adhesion of metallic oxides particles on massive substrates. Adhesion of particles of charged latex onto glass was used to validate the approach and was shown to be a method to determine isoelectric points (IEP) of massive substrates. Then, the adhesion of an iron oxide (hematite) particles onto several substrates was studied to determine the reactivity of current labware (glass, polypropylene) and on a metal (aluminum) commonly found in industrial fouling problems. Adhesion of hematite was found to be pH-dependant, and occurs only below ca. 6 (glass) or 7 (polypropylene), and above 7 (aluminum). DLVO calculations were performed to model the hematite/water/glass system and are consistent with the experimental results. Experiments at temperature 7–50 °C have shown an increasing of the adhesion rate from 7 to 40 °C, then a constant value until 50 °C.     

Electrochemical deposition of silver nanoparticles in multiwalled carbon nanotube-alumina-coated silica for surface-enhanced Raman scattering-active substrates

The work presents a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active surface prepared by electrochemical deposition of silver nanoparticles in multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)–alumina-coated silica (ACS) nanocomposite. The formation of Ag nanoparticles in MWCNT–ACS nanocomposite was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. It shows that Ag nanoparticles with a diameter of about 100–200 nm in the MWCNT–ACS nanocomposite and some Ag nanoparticles aggregated to form interconnected aggregates. The Ag–MWCNT–ACS-coated indium tin oxide substrate has a considerable effect on the Raman spectra with improvements of more than four times of magnitude as compared with the Ag-coated indium tin oxide substrate. The present methodology demonstrates that the composite composed of Ag, MWCNT, and ACS is suitable for potential plasmonic devices.     

Atomic-layer deposition of cadmium chalcogenides on silicon

The results of studies of the synthesis of ultrafine layers of cadmium selenide and telluride by atomic-layer deposition on the silicon surface of different orientations were summarized. The main tendencies of the chemisorption of the components and conditions of layer growth during the formation of nanostructures of these compounds were determined.     

Regularities of silver atom formation in gamma-irradiated aluminium silicate modified by yttrium

The ESR method was used to study the regularities of formation of silver atoms in gamma-irradiated aluminium silicate modified by yttrium and containing¹⁰⁹Ag istope ions introduced by various techniques. The existence of two types of silver atoms and an Ag ₂ ¹ complex stabilized an the surface of a gamma-irradiated carrier has been established. g-Factors and superfine structure constants of spectral lines of paramagnetic silver particles belonging to various types observed on the surface have been calculated. Quantitative correlations of paramagnetic silver particles and the nature of their kinetic dependences in a broad temperature range (from 77 to 353 K) are determined by the number of silver ions introduced into the carrier and by the mode of introduction, thermal and vacuum pretreatment of the samples, irradiation dose and the temperature of investigating the gamma-irradiated surface.     

钴卟啉修饰电极对分子氧电催化还原的扫描隧道显微镜研究

利用扫描隧道显微镜(STM)研究了高定向热解石墨(HOPG)和玻璃碳电极(GC)表面的性质, 并对修饰钴卟啉后的表面形貌变化进行了探讨。结合修饰钴卟啉前后的循环伏安结果和STM形貌图, 讨论了电极表面的结构对分子氧的电催化还原反应的影响。从微观角度阐述了GC电极对氧的电催化还原活性明显高于HPOG电极的内在因素,为修饰电极的表面性能研究提供了经验。     

Unexpected formation by pulsed laser deposition of nanostructured Fe/olivine thin films on MgO substrates

Olivine-type LiFePO₄ thin films were grown on MgO (1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The formation of an original nanostructure is evidenced by transmission electron microscopy measurements. Indeed, on focused ion beam prepared cross sections of the thin film, we observe, the amazing formation of metallic iron/olivine nanostructures. The appearance of such a structure is explained owing to a topotactic relation between the two phases as well as a strong Mg diffusion from the substrate to the film surface. Magnesium migration is thus concomitant with the creation of metallic iron domains that grow from the core of the film to the surface leading to large protuberances. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on iron extrusion from the olivine-type LiFePO₄.     

Preparation and the mechanisms of formation of silver particles of different morphologies in homogeneous solutions

Uniform, well-dispersed silver particles of various morphologies have been prepared by reducing highly acidic silver nitrate solutions with ascorbic acid in the presence of a sodium naphthalene sulfonate-formaldehyde copolymer as dispersing agent. By varying the temperature of the reaction, the free acid content, the addition rate of the reductant, and the aging time, both isometric and anisotropic silver particles could be obtained. It was found that the latter were formed by aggregation of nanosize subunits, which were identified by electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry.     

New pathway for sonoelectrochemical synthesis of gold–silver alloy nanoparticles from their bulk substrates

In this study, we report the first sonoelectrochemical methods to prepare gold–silver alloy nanoparticles with the mean diameter of 5 nm in 0.1 N HCl aqueous solutions without addition of any stabilizer. First, a silver substrate was roughened by a triangular-wave oxidation–reduction cycle (ORC) in an aqueous containing 0.1 N HCl. Silver-containing complexes were found in the solution after the ORC treatment. Then a gold substrate was subsequently roughened by the similar ORC treatment in the same solution containing the silver complexes. After this procedure Au- and Ag-containing complexes were left in the solution. Then the Au working electrode was immediately replaced by a Pt electrode and a cathodic overpotential of 0.6 V from the open circuit potential (OCP) of ca. 0.75 V vs Ag/AgCl was applied under sonification to synthesize Au–Ag alloy nanoparticles.