Surface modification of titanium substrates for the preparation of noble metal coated anodes

A two-step procedure was used for the preparation of titanium substrates fo r noble metal coated electrodes: mechanical polishing followed by electropo lishing in a methano/butanol/perchloric acid mixture. Thus, the electrodes were subject to anodisation. Very reproducible Ti/TiO2 substrates were obta ined. Their properties were studied by scanning electron microscopy and ato mic force microscopy. The cathodoluminescence spectra indicated that the su rfaces were very homogeneous. The deposition of platinum was carried out by reduction of a platinum complex in solution, and led to nuclei randomly sc attered on the whole surface. The behaviour of the resulting electrodes was compared to that of a platinum electrode. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.