Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructured Catalytic Thin Films

This chapter discusses in detail the electrochemical method which has been used in both the fabrication of flat single-component thin films and the emerging complicated nanostructured multicomponent thin films. Based on the principle of electrochemical processes, thin films made of metal, simple metal oxides, or polymerized organic film can be formed using anodization, cathodic electrolytic deposition, electrophoretic deposition, electrooxidative polymerization, and combinatory methods. The combinatory approaches can integrate two electrochemical methods or combine an electrochemical method with other technique to synthesize thin film with unique properties. Anodization is an effective method in producing nanostructured thin films made of simple metal oxide. The chapter describes the design of metal oxide-based composite and the preparation of ternary oxide thin film using a combinatory electrochemical method, namely the combined electrophoretic deposition-anodization, which allows simultaneous anodic growth of metal oxide and the electrophoretic-driven deposition of reduced graphene oxide on the resulting anodic oxide.