Copper monolayer formation on platinum single crystal surfaces: Optical and electrochemical studies

The formation of a Cu monolayer on Pt(100), (110) and (111) was investigated by optical and electrochemical techniques. The adsorption isotherms as obtained by cyclic current-potential curves clearly show that the monolayer is deposited in various steps at underpotentials. Differential reflectance spectroscopy at normal incidence was used to detect structural changes of the adsorbate as the coverage increases. For Cu on Pt(110) a pronounced anisotropy in $\text{ΔR}\text{R}$was observed as the electric field vector of the linearly polarized light was rotated. From these measurements it was deduced that Cu in the submonolayer range is deposited onto Pt(110) in rows along the [11̄0] direction of the substrate. No such anisotropy was found for Cu on Pt(100) and Pt(111) and for surface oxide formation on all three low index faces of Pt. The spectral dependence of the normalized reflectance change,$\text{ΔR}\text{R}$, for the Cu monolayer on Pt(hkl) is shown and discussed.