Study of Platinum Deposition on Untreated and Thermally Modified Glassy Carbon.

Platinum was deposited from aqueous sulphuric acid solution of hexachloroplatinic acid under potentiostatic conditions upon untreated as well as thermally treated glassy carbon (GC). The influence of thermal treatment of GC on electrochemical platinum deposition was thoroughly investigated in terms of the size, the size distribution and coverage of Pt deposits, using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A decrease in Pt particle diameter and an increased Pt coverage was observed for various deposition pulse lengths on thermally pre-treated GC. This thermal pre-treatment led to a formation of a microporous layer on the substrate surface, thus influencing particle size distribution and coverage. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements have shown that the chemical composition and surface roughness of GC are not affected by the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]