The electrosorption of methane on platinized platinum and the potentiodynamic oxidation of the electrosorbed species in 1N H2SO4 solution is studied at 60°C. Two electrosorbed species are distinguished through the I/E characteristics recorded under different perturbation conditions. These species are assigned to COH‐type and CO‐type adsorbed species. The latter can be transformed into the former by electrochemical reduction in the potential range of the hydrogen adatoms. The number of the electrocatalyst sites per adsorbed species is estimated. The reported results contribute to the understanding of the kinetics of the methane electrooxidation under both stationary and nonstationary electrolysis conditions.

The activation of gold electrodes toward the hydrogen electrode reaction is studied using the polycrystalline normalgold/1MH2SO4 interface at 25°C. The electrode activation is promoted by potentiodynamic aging in the potential range where the O‐electrosorption/O‐electrodesorption takes place. The activation effect is comparable to that earlier described when gold electrodes are cathodized for a relatively long time in the potential range of the net evolution of hydrogen. The activation effect is revealed through the appearance of a remarkable increase of current associated with the hydrogen ion discharge and an anodic current related to the electrooxidation of hydrogen. For the latter, different contributions are distinguished, namely, the molecular H2 diffusion and those related to adsorbed and probably absorbed hydrogen. The electrochemical characteristics of the normalgold/1MH2SO4 interface are related to a large extent to the restructuring of the metal surface.