• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2005

The electrochemical behaviors of polycrystalline silver electrodes in 8M KOH solutions containing $Bi_2O_3$ were studied under various conditions by cyclic voltammetry, potentiostatic and galvanostatic techniques as well as the morphology of the silver oxide structures by SEM. It was found that three new compounds comprising silver, bismuth, and oxygen as well as $Bi_2O_3$, $Ag_2O$ and AgO were formed during the electrochemical oxidation of silver. In addition, the potentiostatic current transients were characterized by the appearances of the first current peaks corresponding to the formation of silver oxides, and the second current peaks corresponding to the Ag-Bi-O compounds, indicating the presence of the nucleation and 3D growth mechanism, in the potential regions of $Ag_2O$ and AgO, respectively. Microscopic examinations showed that two types of silver (I) oxide morphologies are formed in the potential region of $Ag_2O$.