Broad-band sum frequency generation study of formic acid chemisorption on a Pt (1 0 0) electrode

Broad-band sum frequency generation spectroscopy (BB-SFG) was used to obtain vibrational spectra of CO adsorbates produced from formic acid oxidation on a Pt (1 0 0) electrode in sulfuric acid media. The BB-SFG simultaneously monitored all forms of the CO intermediates, including steady-state, as the potential was scanned at 5 mV/s. Spectra were compared to those obtained from CO adsorbed from a CO-saturated electrolyte. While adsorbed from HCOOH, the CO had a sharp atop transition near 2050 cm−1 and a broader multiply-bonded transitions in the 1700–1900 cm−1 range, which appear to result from bridge-like and higher-coordinated (possibly fourfold) CO. As the potential scanned from −0.2 to 0.3 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), the bridge-like CO disappeared, and the amount of atop CO increased. At potentials above 0.5 V, the CO was in steady-state, being oxidized on the surface to CO2 and replenished by CO from HCOOH. These measurements show that BB-SFG can observe potential-dependent interconversion of different CO forms on the electrode surface and can measure steady-state reaction intermediates on a surface in real time.