CO adsorption and oxidation studies have been performed on model Pt catalysts using multilayer enhanced infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (MEIRAS) technique demonstrated in our laboratory. The multilayer model catalysts prepared for this study consist of semitransparent thin Pt films or Pt nanowires over SiO2 or TiO2 dielectric films of varying thicknesses with reflecting gold films underneath. CO adsorption results show that different types of oxidation and reduction pretreatments on Pt/SiO2/Au thin film catalysts lead to changes in the CO stretch region of the spectra and in morphology of Pt films. Ignition behavior of CO oxidation reaction was studied on these catalysts and a change in the baseline of the spectra was observed as an indication of change in surface oxygen coverage with change in reaction conditions. CO adsorption studies on Pt/TiO2/Au nanowires catalysts show a shift in the peak position towards lower wavenumbers with a decrease nanowire width. The results indicate that these spectral changes might be related to the boundary adsorption sites near the edges of Pt particles and nanowires. Further, experiments involving modification of boundary sites at Pt/TiO2 junctions by applying external voltage to a catalytic nanodiode with Pt nanowires on TiO2 are in progress. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.