Cluster Formation and Dissolution on Electrode Surfaces

They are mainly composed of AICl3 and an organic salt [5] and show, depending on the Lewis acidity, wide electrochemical windows, which are sufficient to investigate the electrodeposition of most elements. In this short communication we report for the first time on the example of a simple model system (silver electrodeposition from an acidic AIC13/l-methyl-3-butyl-imidazolium chloride mixture, see also [6]), that EC-STM can be performed in molten salts: atomic resolution is achieved and processes during electrodeposition/electrodissolution can be viewed as a function of time. First examples of this observation are demonstrated.Preliminary results by in situ EC-STM on the electrodeposition of silver on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) from a room temperature molten salt are presented. The molten salt was composed of 55 mol-% AlCl, and 45 mol-% I-methyl-3-butyl-imidazolium chloride this mixture is liquid at ambient temperatureand contained AgCl in a concentration of 0.025 mol/l. The results show for the first time that HOPG can be imaged at this interface with atomic resolution and that the silver deposition/dissolution process can be viewed in situ.

show abstract