A Rapid In-Situ Electrochemical Surface Modification Process for Nanotextured Gold Electrodes

Due to its unique physical and chemical properties, gold has been widely applied as electrode material for various applications. In recent years, with the increasing requirement on the electrode performance, researchers attempted to involve nanostructures into the electrode through various routes, which demonstrated the performance improvement but still are limited by the process complexity, toxic agents and high cost. In this work, a simple and fast electrochemical surface modification process of gold electrodes was developed. Compared with commonly used nanostructured gold electrode synthesis or modification processes, this In-Situ electrochemical modification process is based on electrochemical migration phenomenon and can be completed in short time (<90 seconds) without using caustic chemicals. It is hypothesized that this high efficiency formation mechanism is based on electrochemical dissolution of cations from and redeposition to the electrode surface. The evolution of nanostructures from nanopores under low current density processing conditions to nanodendrites under high current density conditions was observed.