The Application of Linear Sweep Voltammetry to a Rotating Disk Electrode for the Reversible Deposition of an Insoluble Species

A Nernst diffusion model was employed to obtain an analytical expression for the transient current response of a reversible deposition reaction with insoluble product occurring on a rotating disk electrode under linear potential sweep conditions. The results indicated that for low sweep rates the current increases monotonically with time. However, at high sweep rates a maximum value for the current density at finite values of time is predicted. The peak current density normalized with respect to the diffusion limiting current density was found to be a linear function of the square root of a dimensionless sweep rate. Furthermore, in this region the response of a rotating disk electrode is the same as that in a stagnant system. An experimental investigation based on the reversible deposition of silver showed good agreement with the theoretical predictions.