The Indous Ion: An Intermediate in the Electrochemical Oxidation of Indium Metal

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Abstract
It has been demonstrated that in a stirred acidic noncomplexing medium, the In (I) ion is an important intermediate in the electrochemical oxidation of either indium metal or its amalgam to the In (III) ion. The In (I) ion formed during anodization can be swept away from the electrode surface and can be detected polarographically in the bulk of the solution. The current efficiency in stirred solutions for In (I) production is about 2% in the case of dilute indium amalgams. For indium metal anodes, the current efficiency for In (I) production under the same conditions is at least 75% and is dependent on anodic current density. The effects of mass transport conditions during electrochemical oxidation and of added complexing agents on the quantity of In (I) formed have also been investigated. Based on overpotential decay curves, the polarographic behavior of In (I) and In (III), and coulometric experiments, an electrochemical mechanism is proposed which postulates that the In (I)/In (O) couple is at equilibrium, that the interfacial concentration of In (I) is not vanishingly small, and that an irreversible electrochemical step is associated with the further oxidation of In (I) to In (III).

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