ABSTRACT
This chapter is divided into six main sections. In the first section there is a comparison of the classic concept of clean surface defined for the metal-gas interface and its equivalent concept for a metal-electrolyte interface requiring the necessity to introduce both concepts of chemically and structurally well-defined surfaces. The second section is a brief overview of the various experimental protocols used in the past that failed in the search for yielding both chemically and structurally well-defined platinum electrode surfaces. The third section is devoted to the flame treatment of platinum samples. It contains a description of the overall experimental procedure required for the preparation of platinum electrodes with chemically and structurally well-defined surfaces, including the technique of elaboration of single crystals. This section reports several aspects of the flame treatment associated with cooling of the sample in air, such as electrochemical analysis of the surface species generated or induction of surface ordering. In the latter case, a clear distinction is made in the possible use of the flame treatment for a simple cleaning of the surface or for the ordering the surface by raising the temperature of the sample. In the fourth section the role of the nature of the composition of the atmosphere in contact with the sample is analyzed for hydrogen-containing atmosphere. This is illustrated in the cases of Pt(100) and platinum surfaces containing (100) surface domains such as stepped surfaces with (100) step sites and Pt(110). The fifth section is a concluding remark mentioning some extension of the flame treatment to gold and rhodium and suggesting some open lines of research, among them the problem of surface reconstruction or the study of platinum electrodes with a higher degree of surface complexity.
