Films formed by oxidation of ferrocene at platinum electrodes

Oxidation of ferrocene in acetonitrile resulted in films on Pt electrodes under voltammetric conditions. Films were more readily formed with tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate as the electrolyte than with perchlorate salts. No films were detected when ferrocene was oxidized in aqueous 0.05 M cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Analysis of the films by FT-IR and Auger spectroscopy confirmed iron-containing oxidation products on Pt, presumably from chemical reactions of ferricinium ions. Oxidation of 50-100 mM ferrocene in acetonitrile on Pt yielded insoluble precipitates. Analyses by MS, FT-IR, and UV-visible (water extract), suggested a mixture of oligomeric material and a small fraction of ferricinium ions. Film formation had much less influence on voltammograms on 12.5-micron-radius Pt microdisks than on 0.5-mm-radius Pt. This is consistent with the smaller sensitivity of microelectrodes to chemical reactions following charge transfer. The smaller apparent heterogeneous rate constants (k zero') found for ferrocene on macroelectrodes than on microelectrodes could possibly be influenced by film formation on larger Pt electrodes. Correlations between macro- and microelectrode kinetic data suggest that macroelectrode k zero' values may be valid in a relative sense when ohmic drop is negligible. Bias in k zero's on conventional-sized electrodes should be small in solutions giving minimal film formation, such as micellar CTAB.