Magnetic tuning of the electrochemical reactivity trought controlled surface orientation of catalytic nanowires

Recently, we have witnessed considerable interest in the magnetic control of the electrical properties of electrode interfaces, including reversible activation and blocking of electrochemical and bioelectrochemical processes.1-4 Such “on/off” switching of electrode reactions has been accomplished by magnetic attraction and retraction of microscopic magnetic particles to and from electrode surfaces. While most of this early work focused on functionalized magnetic spheres, we demonstrated recently that the magnetic and electrocatalytic properties of nickel microparticles can be exploited for magnetoswitchable control of the electrochemical reactivity without the need of functionalized ferromagnetic particles.4 Here we wish to report for the first time on the application of nanowires for magnetic control of the electrochemical reactivity and to demonstrate how one can modulate the electrocatalytic activity by orienting catalytic nanowires at different angles