Preparation of nano-structured platinum electrode surfaces by electrochemical methods and its properties

Abstract

The nano-sized constant potential roughened platinum (CPRPt) and constant current roughened platinum (CCRPt) electrode-surfaces have been prepared successfully by oxidation-reduction-cycle method. Many regularly shaped triangle-cones of the size of 10 similar to 30 nm were observed on the CPRPt electrode surface by the scan electron microscopy (SEM) technology. The electro-oxidation of methanol on the nano-CPRPt and the CCRPt electrode-surfaces was used to investigate the performances with the results of the peak current density 1.35 and 2.50 times greater than those of smooth Pt respectively. The in situ Raman spectra of these two kinds of electrode-surfaces indicated their high surface enhanced Raman spectrum (SERS) effects for pyridine adsorption. The CPRPt electrode surface has extraordinarily enhanced effect for adsorption-dissociation of small organic molecules. The mechanism of SERS on these platinum electrode-surfaces has been also discussed.