A Dissolution-Redeposition Mechanism for the Roughening of Platinum Electrodes by Cyclic Potential Programs

Rotating platinum disk-gold ring and platinum disk-platinum ring electrodes were used to study the roughening of platinum produced by a triangular wave potential program. The rate of roughening was found to decrease with increasing rotation speed and/or decreasing potential scan rate. The amount of soluble platinum collected on the gold ring electrode during the roughening process increased with angular velocity. The data obtained are consistent with a mechanism in which soluble platinum produced during both the anodic and cathodic disk potential scans is redeposited on the electrode surface at cathodic potentials.