Electrochemical faceting of single crystal platinum electrodes

Abstract

The surface of a single crystal metallic sphere presents, in principle, all possible crystallographic planes. When such a surface structure is modified by one of the procedures described for the development of preferred orientation [ 1,2], one can develop a well defined atomic arrangement involving a certain particular crystallographic plane, depending on the set of parameters defining the fast potential perturbation. Due to the spherical geometry, the changes operating in the surface should require a very symmetrical stereospatial reconstruction, which results in the development of poles of the particular enhanced crystallographic plane and the disappearance of others.