ethyl alcohol (guaranteed reagent grade) were purchased from Junsei
Chemical Co., Ltd. Perchloric acid (60%) (HClO4, guaranteed
reagent grade) and chromic anhydride (guaranteed reagent grade) were
purchased from FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation. Phosphoric
acid (85%) (H3PO4, guaranteed reagent grade)
and 0.1 mol/L sodium hydroxide solution (for volumetric titration)
were purchased from Kanto Chemical Co., Inc. A high purity aluminum
plate (purity of 99.99%, 1 mm in thickness) was purchased from Showa
Denko K. K. A platinum plate (purity of 99.98%, 0.10 mm in thickness)
was purchased from The Nilaco Corporation. An aqueous dispersion of
commercial silica nanoparticles (Snowtex MP-4540M, silica concentration
of 40 wt %, pH value of 9.3) was provided by Nissan Chemical Corporation.
Deionized water (DI water) with a resistivity of 18.2 MΩ·cm
that was obtained from Milli Q integral5 (Merck Millipore) was used
in all experiments.