An efficient and low cost preparation method (Diazonium-Induced Anchoring Process) to graft polyacrylic acid (PAA) on the gold substrate has been reported. IR, XPS and AFM techniques were used to characterize the obtained polymer film. The interfacial electrochemistry of the PAA coated gold electrodes was studied by means of impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry transition techniques. The ability of PAA-grafted onto a gold electrode to reversibly bind or release metal ions was confirmed. As a broad-range chelating material, PAA is able to capture several heavy metal ions at low concentration. The release of those metal ions from the grafted PAA film was obtained under electro-induced-acidification by applying an anodic potential at the electrode to promote a localized water electrolysis. Application of electrochemical-pH-switchable PAA films can be considered within the field of heavy metal waste treatments. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.