Impedance study on the capacitance of silver electrode oxidised in alkaline electrolyte

Electrochemical properties of oxide-covered polycrystalline Ag electrodes were studied in a 0.1 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. The oxide layers formed by a constant potential oxidation at 420 mV vs. Hg|HgO are composed of oxygen-deficient Ag2O as follows from the XPS and Auger experiments. Steady-state conditions required for collection of valid impedance spectra were obtained at a potential range of 345–365 mV. The components of the equivalent circuit used for the impedance spectra analysis are analysed as a function of the Ag2O layer thickness. The value of the coefficient of the constant phase element (CPE) attributed to the oxide layer is Ag2O thickness dependent. On the other hand, the components of the CPE describing the double-layer capacitance of the oxide-covered Ag electrode are independent on the oxide thickness and their values are comparable to those obtained for the oxide-free metal. This indicates that the double-layer capacitances of oxide-covered and oxide-free Ag electrodes are similar.