Cathodic corrosion to fabricate Au electrodes with unique properties for single-crystal electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, and SER spectroscopy

Abstract

Cathodic corrosion represents an enigmatic electrochemical process that restructures, roughens, and etches metal surfaces at highly negative surface charge densities. Thus, cathodic corrosion can be employed to modify and nanostructure metal surfaces, empowering the flexible design of electrodes for different electrochemical systems. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of cathodic corrosion for nanostructuring and faceting of metal surfaces. The emphasis is put mainly upon the applicability of cathodic corrosion to fabricate nanostructured and facetted Au electrodes that adopt characteristics typically recognized for well-defined single-crystal surfaces. Intriguingly, the single-crystal-like electrochemical behavior is accompanied by the properties of nanoparticles, allowing the identification of active centers, which are absent for extended single-crystal surfaces. Therefore, we shed light on the significance of such electrodes in electrocatalysis and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).