A novel polycatechol/platinum composite film prepared by electrochemical synthesis

This work described the electrochemical synthesis of polycatechol/platinum composite film studied by cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The formation of the polycatechol/platinum composite film was initiated by introducing PtCl62− anions into a pre-electropolymerized catechol film followed by the electrochemical reduction of PtCl62−. The SEM images indicated that uniform spherical platinum particles were dispersed in the polycatechol film. Compared with the electrodeposited platinum film, the polycatechol/platinum composite film significantly improved the electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of methanol, attributed to the uniform dispersion of platinum particles on polycatechol film. The electrochemical methods may be suitable for controlling particle dimension and the density of platinum particles.