This study is related to the electrochemical oxidation of NaBH4 on Au, Pt, Pd and Ni electrodes by the use of cyclic and square wave voltammetry. The most effective metal for the oxidation of sodium borohydride was found to be Au. Pt and Pd electrodes also showed certain activity while Ni was not effective. The compound was observed to give two consecutive oxidation steps with 6 and 2 electron transfers. The experiments conducted while keeping the potential at -0.8 V showed that the resulting compound is adsorbed upon the electrode surface and gradually decrease its catalytic activity. (c) 2006 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.