PREPARATION OF ANTIMONY-PLATINUM SURFACE ALLOY ELECTRODE BY ATOM DIFFUSION IN THE SOLID PHASE
Antimony-platinum bilayers were prepared on titanium substrates by the two-step electrodeposition in the usual baths, and then surface alloys were formed by the atom diffusion in the solid phase. The simple antimony layer was little influenced by the substrate in both the measurements of X-ray diffraction and the i - E characteristic in a sulfuric acid solution. Regarding the bilayers, the catalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reaction was very sensitive to the presence of platinum, while the hydrogen adsorbability was quite insensitive. An interaction between antimony and platinum was confirmed by the appearance of a new dissolution wave in the electrochemical measurement and the occurrence of a new diffraction in the X-ray diffraction pattern after the heat-treatment of about 400°C. Although the new diffraction disagreed with any of the reported alloys, clear diffraction pattern of PtSb 2 alloy was observed, when the bilayers were heat-treated at about 600°C for one hour. Considering the penetration depth of X-ray, the alloying of antimony and platinum seems to occur also at low temperatures at least at the top surface.