On the adsorption of sulfate on low Miller index Rh(hkl) electrodes: an in situ vibrational analysis

The adsorption of sulfate ion on Rh(111), Rh(100) and Rh(110) electrodes was studied using in situ FTIR reflection spectroscopy. For wavenumbers above 1200 cm-1, only one strong vibrational band is observed for adsorbed sulfate on the three low index rhodium surfaces. A weak band at 960 cm-1 is also observed for Rh(111). The strong band above 1200 cm-1 is potential dependent with a tuning rate of 50 cm-1 V-1. No differences were observed upon changing the solution acidity in order to provide sulfate or bisulfate in solution. This result is interpreted in terms of complete dissociation of the ions, giving only adsorbed SO4(2-). The surface orientation affects only the amount of the adsorbed sulfate species. It seems that the same adsorbed sulfate is present on Rh(111), Rh(110) and Rh(100).