Patent ID: 8349394

Claim:
A method of manufacturing an electrochemical device, the method comprising: forming a first electrode, comprising: providing a first substrate having a first conductive layer; immersing the first substrate in a first solution containing a surfactant to form a conditioner layer on the first conductive layer; immersing the first substrate in a second solution containing polymer-capped noble metal nanoclusters to form a polymer-protected electrochemical catalyst layer by adsorbing the polymer-capped noble metal nanoclusters on the conditioner layer; and thermally treating the polymer-protected electrochemical catalyst layer over the first substrate at a temperature of about 270° C. to partially or completely degrade the surfactant of the conditioner layer and the polymer of the polymer-protected electrochemical catalyst layer; forming a second electrode; assembling the first electrode and the second electrode; and injecting an electrolyte into a space between the first electrode and the second electrode.