US Patent 6986838 Nanomachined and micromachined electrodes for electrochemical devices

A nanomachined and micromachined electrode (10) is disclosed that is produced by providing a layer of aluminum (11) positioned upon a conductive substrate (12), anodizing the layer of aluminum to produce a layer of aluminum oxide (13) having an array of pores (14), depositing a sacrificial metal (17) within the pores of the aluminum oxide layer, etching the aluminum oxide layer so as to leave an array of sacrificial metal rods (18), depositing a layer of electrode material (19) between the array of sacrificial metal rods, and etching the sacrificial metal rods so that a layer of copper remains having an array of pores (20) where the sacrificial metal rods had existed. The layer of copper is the electrode (10).