Fabrication and characterisation of nanometre-sized platinum electrodes for voltammetric analysis and imaging

A simple procedure is described for the fabrication of micrometre to nanometre scale Pt electrodes. These electrodes are prepared by etching a fine Pt wire, which is subsequently coated with an electrophoretic paint, deposited anodically or cathodically. The electrodes are characterised by scanning electron microscopy and steady-state linear sweep voltammetry. Voltammetric measurements of the oxidation of aqueous ferrocyanide at electrodes with effective radii varying from 1 mu m to 10 nm show the expected increase in irreversibility with increasing mass transport rate. The electrodes are shown to be particularly promising as imaging probes for scanning electrochemical microscopy. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.