Kinetics and mechanism of the Cu(I)/Cu(Hg) electrode reactions in DMSO solutions of halide ions

The electrode reaction Cu(I)/Cu(Hg) in complex chloride, bromide and iodide solutions with DMSO as solvent has been studied at the equilibrium potential by the faradiac impedance method and a cyclic current-step method. The kinetic data refer to the ionic strength 1 M with ammonium perchlorate as supporting electrolyte and to the temperature 25°C. Double-layer data have been obtained from electrocapillary measurements. From the results for the chloride system at Cl^?]>15 mM it is concluded that the charge transfer is catalysed by ligand bridging at the amalgam and the following parallel reactions predominate: Cl_ads^?-Cu⁺+e^?(am)Cl_ads^?+Cu(am) Cl_ads^?-Cu₂Cl_j^2?j+e^?(am)Cl_ads^?+Cu(am)+CuCl_j^1?j At lower Cl^?] and in the whole ligand concentration range available in the bromide and iodide systems the impedance measurements indicate a rate-controlling adsorption step. It is suggested that uncharged complex CuL (L^?=halide ion) then forms an adsorbed two-dimensional network on the amalgam surface.