The electrodeposition of platinum onto a conducting ceramic, Ebonex(R)

The deposition of Pt metal onto Ebonex (R) from Pt 5Q electroplating solution at 368 K has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that the nucleation of Pt centres on the as-supplied Ebonex (R) occurred non-uniformly and was a very slow process. This appeared to result from a layer of TiO2 on the surface and without pretreatment of the Ebonex (R), the quality of the deposits was poor. A number of pretreatments were studied. The preferred procedure employed physical abrasion and polishing followed by a chemical etch in aqueous NaF/HCl/CH3COOH and this led to more uniform nucleation as well as good quality Pt deposits which were adherent, coherent and metallic in appearance. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.