Surface modification of polymer microparticles using a hexagonal-barrel sputtering system

Surfaces of spherical polymer microparticles with three different sizes (50, 12 and 5 μm in diameter) were modified with platinum using the hexagonal barrel equipped RF sputtering system. It was found that the surfaces of particles could be uniformly coated with Pt layers, regardless of their sizes. It should be noticed that the present system made it possible to form a uniform Pt-layer over a polymer particle of 1 μm diameter. Cyclic voltammograms (CVs) of the Pt-coated samples gave the same CV as that of bulky Pt, indicating that electrochemical characteristics of the Pt-layers are identical with those of Pt metal.