Electrochemical characterization of insulating silica-modified electrodes : Transport properties and physicochemical features

The effect of depositing different numbers of insulating layers from a silica sol onto an ITO support was investigated to elucidate the changes occurring to diffusion and transfer mechanisms compared with bare electrodes. The electrochemical studies highlighted unexpected trends, which were discussed with respect to literature models and interpreted in the light of the physicochemical characterization (by FE-SEM, AFM, UV-vis transmittance) and particularly the hydrophilicity of the layers.