Real-time investigations of Pt(111) surface transformations in sulfuric acid solutions.

We present the first broadband sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectra of adlayers from sulfuric acid solutions on Pt(111) surfaces and reveal surface transformations of (bi)sulfate anions in unprecedented detail. SFG amplitudes, bandwidth, and electrochemical Stark tuning of (bi)sulfate vibrational bands centered at 1250-1290 cm(-1) strongly depend on the applied potential and are correlated with prominent voltammetric features. (Bi)sulfate adlayers on Pt(111) are important model systems for weak, specific adsorption of anions on catalytically active surfaces. Although the existence of surface transformations on Pt(111) in dilute H(2)SO(4) solutions has been established by previous studies, so far they have not been observed with surface vibrational spectroscopy. Our results confirm previous reports of a surface transformation at 0.21 V and provide new information on a second transformation at 0.5 V due to surface hydroxyl formation and rearrangement of the electric double layer.