Formation of Silver Oxalate Films on Silver Electrodes from Supersaturated Silver Oxalate Solutions

Abstract

Silver oxalate films have been formed on silver electrodes by polarizing them slightly cathodically in dilute aqueous solutions containing Ag⁺ ions and dimethyl oxalate. The solutions were supersaturated with silver oxalate which was produced as a result of the hydrolysis of dimethyl oxalate and was sparingly soluble. The supersaturation was maintained during the film formation.
The potential of the silver electrode with silver oxalate formed at a very low current density, showed a linear response to the oxalate ion concentration between 10^-4 and 10^-1 M.