A method is presented whereby the adsorption of 2-mercaptoethanesulphonate (MESA) onto Pd may be quantified using the peak separation of a cyclic voltammogram of potassium ferricyanide measured following sequential treatment of the Pd surface with MESA and 1-dodecanethiol. The observed kinetics of MESA adsorption onto sputtered Pd were slower than those observed on sputtered Au by 3−4 orders of magnitude. The rate of MESA adsorption onto a freshly polished Pd disk electrode was comparable to, but slower than, that onto sputtered Au. The lower rate of MESA coating observed on sputtered Pd as compared with sputtered Au was attributed to the presence of oxide species on the former. The rate of MESA coating on Pd was found to decrease with increasing oxide surface coverage. Rate constants were calculated using the method of initial rate as 4 × 10 −2 s −1 for Au and 8 × 10 −5 and 8 × 10 −6 s −1 for Pd with 0.5 and 0.7 fractional surface coverage of PdO, respectively. The kinetics of MESA coating onto Pd were rationalized in terms of the removal of surface oxide species. Specifically, linear sweep voltammetry revealed that the amount of metallic Pd at the surface increased with coating time through two distinct mechanisms. First, metallic Pd was formed through oxide dissolution. Second, metallic Pd was formed through reaction of adsorbed oxygen species with MESA. Measurements of Pd concentration in the coating solution using ICP-MS were consistent with the oxide films on the sputtered Pd films possessing both crystalline and amorphous character. In the case of sputtered Pd films, an increase in the crystalline character of the film may occur coincidently with an increase in oxide surface coverage.