ORIGINAL PAPER 3D Electrodes from aluminium foams prepared by replication process Horacio Salavagione Æ Richard Prieto Æ Emilia Morallo ´n Æ Javier Narciso Received: 16 April 2009 / Accepted: 16 August 2009 / Published online: 29 August 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract Aluminium foams with pores displaying both regular size and distribution have been prepared by replica- tion methods. Their volumetric density and electrical con- ductivity were 0.65 g cm -3 and 2.44 MS m -1 , respectively. This method represents a simple way to produce 3D metal macroporous electrodes. In addition, the aluminium foam has been employed as support to produce 3D platinum electrodes (Pt/Al foam) by electrodeposition. The conditions for platinum electrodeposition have been established, and the electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The electrocatalytic behaviour of the Pt/Al foam electrodes to methanol oxidation has been tested in 1 M CH 3 OH ? 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 solutions. Keywords Aluminium foam  Electrocatalyst  Platinum 1 Introduction Porous materials containing tailored porosity exhibit special properties that cannot be usually achieved by employing conventional dense materials. Therefore, porous materials nowadays find many applications in several technological processes [1]. Commercial metal foams are mainly constituted by closed cells with diameters from one to several millimetres that are irregular in size and shape [2]. The main application of these materials is in the absorption of energy especially from impacts. However, for certain applications like sound attenuation and filters, open cells are essential and a higher control of the foam microstructure is required [3]. Open-cell metallic foams can be easily produced by the pressure infiltration technique where a solid material is used as a pore shaping template. The molten metal is then poured followed by removal of the template by dissolution. This method, which is known as ‘‘replication process’’ was developed in the late 1960s for the production of metal foams, mostly aluminium [3–5]. However, this process was also developed for the production of mesophase pitch carbon foams [6]. This procedure has several advantages over other production of metal foams [2, 7]; both the pore shape and their distribution are mainly controlled by the initial shape of the solid powder template used to produce the infiltrated preform obtaining uniform and fine open-cell foams [8]. Metal foams have the advantages of monolithic materials (reduction of pressure drop, ease of handling, mechanical stability, etc.), and they can be used as structural supports for catalysts. Moreover, metal foams have high surface area, low density and high thermal conductivity. Thus, the use of metal foams offers interesting possibilities as three-dimensional (3D) catalyst support structures for different applications, for example in electrochemical applications. In the case of electrodes for fuel cell applications, both the support and the electrocatalyst must have high efficiency and electrochem- ical stability [9–12]. H. Salavagione  E. Morallo ´n (&) Departamento de Quı ´mica Fı ´sica and Instituto Universitario de Materiales, Universidad de Alicante, Apdo. 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain e-mail: morallon@ua.es R. Prieto Departamento de Fı ´sica Aplicada and Instituto Universitario de Materiales, Universidad de Alicante, Apdo. 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain J. Narciso Departamento de Quı ´mica Inorga ´nica and Instituto Universitario de Materiales, Universidad de Alicante, Apdo. 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain 123 J Appl Electrochem (2010) 40:241–246 DOI 10.1007/s10800-009-9997-9