Vertical plane copper anode was electrochemically dissolved in a stagnant CuSO4 and CuSO4-H2SO4 electrolyte solution. Measured anodic polarization curve showed three distinct stages: Stage I characterized by an increased current density with increasing in anodic overpotential, Stage II including a maximum peak current followed by an abrupt current decrease caused by CuSO4 precipitates at higher overpotential and Stage III with much lower and virtually constant current density, that is, the existence of anodic limiting current density over a wide anodic overpotential range. The complete passivation phenomena were not encountered in the present experimental conditions. Supersaturation phenomena of Cu2+ near the anode surface in Stage II were in-situ measured by holographic interferometry. The degree of supersaturation more than 0.18 M CuSO4 was recorded. It was followed by the nucleation phenomena of a kind of CuSO4 crystal after a certain incubation period. With growth of precipitates on the anode, the degree of supersaturation of Cu2+ ion around them slightly decreased. A similar phenomenon was also observed in CuSO4H2SO4 solution. The measured anodic limiting current density in Stage III agreed well with the calculated one from the correlation equation:Sh(x) = 0.499(Ra-x')(1/4) (10(10) < Ra-x(') <10(11.5))which was derived from the boundary layer theory under the presumption of constant Cu2+ ion concentration over an anode surface. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.