A generic approach to electrodes with novel controllable continuous nanoarchitectures.

A new method for the production of highly ordered nanostructured electrode materials, based on liquid crystal (LC) templating is presented. By careful choice of surfactant, addition of a swelling agent and by changing the tem perature and composition of the lyotropic phase it is possible to alter the pore size and architecture of the nanostructure in a controllable manner. The electrodeposition of platinum films from both cubic and hexagonal LC ph ases formed by the non-ionic surfactant octaethylene glycol monohexadecyl e ther (C16EO8) is demonstrated. These platinum films have very high surface areas and contain, for example, a regular array of cylindrical pores simila r to 2.5 nm in diameter separated by walls similar to 2.5 nm thick. The sur face area of films deposited from an hexagonal LC phase was found to increa se linearly with film thickness, and electrode roughness factors of up to 3 50 were obtained. The surface areas of platinum films with a cubic nanostru cture were found to be slightly greater than those with an hexagonal nanost ructure. Studies of these novel high surface electrodes by cyclic voltammet ry, in sulfuric acid or methanol media, indicate that they are of considera ble interest for application in the fields of sensors, batteries and fuel c ells.