The
current electrochemical method for H2 production
is water electrolysis, a process with a high energy demand, which
is limited by the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). One way to handle
the problems related to the OER is to use other oxidative reactions
by so-called coupled water electrolysis. One option is the SO2 oxidation reaction (SO2OR), a process that generates
H2SO4, which has industrial use, by the consumption
of an abundant pollutant that demands, under standard conditions,
0.70 V less than the OER according to theoretical predictions. On
the basis of theoretical calculations the mechanism is expected to
be the same for a range of metallic catalysts, with the best ones
being Pt and Au, in order. Here, the SO2 electro-oxidation
on Pt and Au electrodes was investigated by in situ infrared reflection–absorption
(IRRA) spectroelectrochemistry, aiming to elucidate the mechanism.
On Pt, species such as dithionate, S2O6
2–, not commonly cited in the literature, were found
as intermediates, and PtOH and PtO were suggested as oxidative species.
On Au electrodes, the situation observed was completely different.
The electrolyte chaotropicity strongly influenced the adsorption of
SO2 on Au, changing from Au–O for highly kosmotropic
media to Au–S for more chaotropic systems. When the Au–S
bond is formed, dithionate and S2O5
2– species were simultaneously present along with the Au(SO3) complex in solution. The observation of these two species was accompanied
by potential oscillations, and an HN-NDR (hidden N-shaped negative
differential resistor) oscillator was observed. Different mechanisms
for different electrolytes are proposed for Au electrodes.