Electrochemical Characterization of a Commercial Au-Ag-Cu Alloy in an Acidic Medium

摘要

The voltammograms obtained by the cyclic voltammetry method show potentials at which currentwaves occur successively corresponding to the number and the quantity of the phases present in thealloy, which can be used for characterisation of the investigated alloys. All voltammograms for goldand gold containing alloys exhibit anodic waves corresponding to the formation of the first OHmonolayer, low and high valence gold oxides or their hydrated forms. A well-defined cathodic wavecan be observed indicating gold oxide reduction. In addition, the voltammograms for the gold-copperalloys exhibit the current waves corresponding to the formation of copper oxides in the anodic regionand their reduction in the cathodic region. The voltammograms for the gold-silver alloy also containthe current waves indicating oxidation of silver in the anodic region and its reduction in the cathodicregion. The electrodes were obtained metallurgically. This paper presents investigation results of thepossibility of using cyclic voltammetry to determine the composition of an commercial gold alloydeclared as 14-carat gold [58.5 % Au + the most common alloying elements Ag and Cu, in theproportion 1:1] as well as a verification of pure gold declaration.