Online Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry Combined with the Rotating Disk Electrode Method for Direct Observations of Potential-Dependent Molecular Behaviors in the Electrode Surface Vicinity

Abstract

We newly developed a rotating disk electrode-online electrochemical mass spectrometry (RDE-OLEMS) to investigate potential-dependent molecular behaviors in electrode surface vicinity under mass transport-controlled conditions of reacting molecules. The potential-dependent molecular behaviors were investigated by using a quadrupole mass spectrometer (Q-mass) where the molecules are collected through a gas-sampling tip located in near the electrode surface. For the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the polycrystalline Pt electrode, the potential-dependent Q-mass ion signal intensities of O2 (m/z = 32) that are ascribable to the dissolved oxygen molecules increased linearly with the disk electrode rotation rates without substantial interference from the collection tip, clearly showing that the dissolved O2 for ORR can be monitored by the RDE-OLEMS. For electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (ECR) on the polycrystalline Au electrode, the potential-dependent Q-mass ion signal intensities of CO (m/z = 28) generated by the ECR increased with increasing disk rotation rates from 0 (without disk rotation) to 300 rpm in the potential region from −0.4 to −1.4 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode. The results demonstrate that the RDE-OLEMS enables us to evaluate the potential-dependent behaviors of reactant and product molecules present near the electrode surface under the mass transport-controlled condition.