Unconventional Electrochemical Behaviors of Cu Underpotential Deposition in a Chloride-Based Deep Eutectic Solvent: High Underpotential Shift and Low Coverage

Abstract

The (5 × 5) Moiré pattern resulting from coadsorption of Cu atoms and chloride ions on the Au(111) electrode is one of the most classical structures for underpotential deposition (UPD) in electrochemical surface science. Although two models have been proposed to describe the pattern, the details of the structure remain ambiguous and controversial, leading to a question that remains to be answered. In this work, we investigate the UPD behaviors of Cu on the Au(111) electrode in a chloride-based deep eutectic solvent ethaline by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Benefiting from the properties of the ultraconcentrated electrolyte, we directly image not only Cu but also Cl adlayers by finely tuning tunneling conditions. The structure is unambiguously determined for both Cu and Cl adlayers, where an incommensurate Cu layer is adsorbed on the Au(111) surface with a Cu coverage of 0.64, while the Cl coverage is 0.32 (only half of the expected value); i.e., the atomic arrangement of the observed (5 × 5) Moiré pattern in ethaline matches neither of the models proposed in the literature. Meanwhile, STM results confirm the origin of the cathodic peak in the cyclic voltammogram, which indicates that the underpotential shift of Cu UPD in ethaline indeed increases by ca. 0.40 V compared to its counterpart in a sulfuric acid solution, resulting in a significant deviation from the linear relation between the underpotential shift and the difference in work functions proposed in the literature. The unconventional electrochemical behaviors of Cu UPD reveal the specialty of both the bulk and the interface in the chloride-based deep eutectic solvent.