Phosphate-mediated electrochemical adsorption of cisplatin on gold electrodes

This manuscript reports the potential-dependent adsorption and deposition of cisplatin on polycrystalline gold electrode. It was found that this process is mediated by the adsorption of phosphate anions on the gold electrode and that the maximum coverage of Pt adsorbed is given by the maximum coverage of phosphate adsorbed at a given potential. The interaction of cisplatin with the phosphate groups was confirmed by in situ FTIR spectroscopy under external reflexion configuration. Quantitative analysis suggests that the stoichiometry of the phosphate species and the cisplatin adsorbed was 1:1. Moreover, the relationship between the charge of the Pt deposited and the charge of the electrochemical surface area of the Pt deposited on the gold electrodes indicates that 3D nanoclusters of a few atoms of Pt were formed over the gold electrode upon the electrochemical reduction of the adsorbed cisplatin.

The Pt nanoclusters formed under these conditions were later evaluated for the oxidation of a monolayer of carbon monoxide. The Pt nanoclusters showed a high overpotential for the oxidation of this carbon monoxide monolayer and this high oxidation overpotential was attributed to the absence of adsorption sites for OH species on the Pt clusters: only at potentials where the OH species are adsorbed at the edge between the Pt nanocluster and the gold support, the oxidation of the carbon monoxide on the Pt nanoparticles takes place.