Mixed solutions of silver cation and chloride anion in acetonitrile: Voltammetric and EQCM study

Abstract

Electrochemical behavior of Pt and Au electrodes in acetonitrile solutions at different concentration ratios of Cl⁻ and Ag⁺ ions was studied by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The composition of the mixed silver chloride solutions, i.e. the amount of each component of the system (solid AgCl and solute species: Ag⁺, Cl⁻, AgCl₂⁻), is governed by the solubility product of AgCl and the stability constant of AgCl₂⁻complex and depends strongly on the ratio of the total concentrations of chloride and silver ions. In this work we analyze in detail the influence of the Cl⁻/Ag⁺ concentration ratio on the value of equilibrium electrode potential and the shape of cyclic voltammograms. We explain the complicated shapes of the experimental curves observed at different concentration ranges, propose the mechanisms of the processes occurring at the electrode and substantiate them by EQCM data.