Adsorption of atomic hydrogen on a polycrystalline Pt electrode surface studied by FT-IRAS: the influence of adsorbed carbon monoxide on the spectral feature

Adsorption of atomic hydrogen on a polycrystalline Pt electrode surface was studied by in situ infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS). When the electrode potential was adjusted in a potential range where the underpotential-deposited (upd) hydrogen was formed, an absorption band assignable to the vibration of on-top CO (which would be formed by the reduction of a trace of CO₂) appeared at ca. 2010 cm^?1 even for highly purified 0.1 M (M=mol dm^?3) H₂SO₄ solution. An absorption band due to the on-top H was observed at ca. 2070 cm^?1 for a conventional acidic solution in a potential range as narrow as ca. 0.1 V just before the hydrogen evolution reaction (her) ascribable to the reduction of hydronium ions began. On the other hand, the on-top H band was observed unequivocally for a solution containing 1 mM H₂SO₄ and 99 mM Na₂SO₄ over a wide potential range where molecular hydrogen was formed by the reduction of hydronium ions. Even for a neutral solution such as 0.1 M KCl, the weak band ascribable to the on-top H was detected. The dependence of the spectral feature on the concentration of hydronium ions and the applied electrode potential strongly suggested that the on-top H is the intermediate in the electrochemical reduction of hydronium ions. We demonstrated that the adsorbed CO is readily formed by the reduction of CO₂ in the 0.1 M H₂SO₄ solution.