On the real surface area of smooth solid electrodes

The determination of real surface area of the electrodes is very important for calculation of various parameters characterizing electrochemical processes. It has been noticed that real surface area determined by the electrochemical methods depends on the method used and on the experimental conditions. In this work the real surface area of the gold polycrystalline electrode is presented, determined by various electrochemical methods in aqueous and nonaqueous solutions with varying concentration of nonadsorbing electrolyte. In conclusion it is confirmed that the so-called roughness factor depends on the method used. The values of roughness factor determined for polycrystalline gold electrode using methods based on Gouy-Chapman theory are dependent on diffuse layer thickness via electrolyte concentration or solvent dielectric constant. These results are discussed in comparison with the theoretical predictions. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.