Platinum single crystal electrodes: Prediction of the surface structures of low and high Miller indexes faces

Abstract Platinum is widely used as electrode in electrocatalysis studies; however, the use of polycrystalline surfaces introduces a series of variables in the electrochemical system, due to the random contribution of all crystallographic orientations with different superficial packing of atoms. On the other hand, low Miller index platinum single crystal electrodes present surface structure with high regularity and serve as models for establishing the correlation between atomic arrangements and macroscopic properties, among which their electrochemical behavior. Here we predict the different contributions of each low Miller indexes planes in the size of terraces and number of steps of the high Miller indexes faces of platinum (called stepped surfaces), stablish the correlation between the structural properties of these surfaces and their electrochemical behavior, and discuss the surface reconstruction process of each platinum low Miller index face.