The role of metal and solvent in the structure of the electrode|surface-inactive electrolyte solution interface

The effect of the electronic properties of the metal on the structure of an electric double layer was investigated using Hg, Ga, In-Ga and Tl-Ga electrodes in water, ethanol, n-propanol, acetonitrile, ethylene carbonate and N-methylformamide as examples. In the absence of any chemisorption interaction between the metal and the solvent, the closest distance of solvent dipoles to the surface of Hg was shown to differ from that of the gallium subgroup metals. The difference in these distances depends on the metal nature but not on that of the solvent; it does not depend on the electrode charge either. With due allowance for differences in the distances of solvent dipoles to the surface of different metals, the concept of the lyophilic nature of metals relative to solvents may be altered radically. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.