The interaction of halide ions (I − , Br − , Cl − ) with well-cleaned faceted platinum (nanocube, cuboctahedral) nanoparticles and platinum polycrystalline is investigated in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 electrolyte. Under electrochemical conditions, the Pt surface gets poisoned with halide ad-atoms and it causes the attenuation of both hydrogen adsorption/desorption in the lower potential region (0.06-0.4 V) and electroxidation of Pt nanoparticles in the higher potential region (0.6-1.2 V). Above certain concentration (5 × 10 −6 M), the strongly adsorbing I − ions mask the H upd features. On the other hand, Br − and Cl − ions alter the peak features in the H upd region, those are characteristic of different Pt surface sites. On excursion to higher potentials (∼>1.2 V), concurrent halogen evolution, Pt oxidation, and oxygen evolution are observed; the increase in peak intensity in the H upd region reflects the reconstruction of the Pt surface. To remove the adsorbed halide ions from the Pt surface, an in-situ potentiostatic method is employed, which involves holding the working electrode at ∼0.03 V in 0.1 M NaOH solution. The cleanliness and retention of surface-structure are confirmed from the voltammograms recorded in the test electrolyte and the recovery of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity after cleaning the Br − ion-contaminated Pt surface supports this conjecture. Anions specifically adsorbed on precious metal surfaces adversely impact several electrochemical reactions including oxidation/ reduction, metal deposition, corrosion and dissolution.1-6 Catalyst poisoning by the adsorbed anions (halides, sulfates and others) is a well-known phenomenon and it decreases the activity of electrocatalysts; for example, in fuel-cell, batteries and electrolyzers. 7,8 Especially platinum, a material for catalyzing a variety of electrochemical reactions, is prone to get poisoned in the presence of adatoms/adsorbates/solution anions under electrochemical conditions. Thus, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells is affected by the adsorbed species or impurities and it is highly dependent on the cleanliness and surface structure of the catalyst. [9][10][11][12][13] In hydrogen-bromine fuel cells, bromides and bromine species migrate across the membrane and poison the hydrogen-electrode catalyst; moreover, Pt dissolves in Br − ion-containing solutions. 22-35 Most of the available surface sensitive techniques were used to elucidate adsorbate coverage and structure. Such techniques, including auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), second harmonic generation (SHG), surface X-ray scattering (SXS), electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope (ESTM) 31,34 and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), used to investigate anion adsorption have offered significant insight on the dependence of adsorption process on exposed single crystal orientations. Thus, AES/LEED studies revealed that Cl − ion adsorption occurs on Pt(100) surface at lower potential than that with Pt(111) surfaces, indi...