Lepidocrocite thin films have been electrochemically synthesised on polycrystalline Au substrates following two ways, direct synthesis and synthesis via green rust (GR). The direct synthesis consists in oxidising Fe(II) species in a 0.4 M NaCl/0.02 M Met-Imidazole/0.01 M FeCl2 solution at pH 7.5. The synthesis via GR consists in converting a green rust thin film into lepidocrocite thin film by galvanostatic oxidation. The thin films have been characterised by means of electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.