A new strategy involving the addition of a cationic surfactant, cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), has been found to influence the electrochemical properties of nickel hexacyanoferrate film greatly. Nickel hexacyanoferrate surface films deposited by potential cycling procedure in the presence and absence of CTAB are compared for ion transport characteristics using cyclic voltammetry. CV parameters in 0.1 M KCl + 0.1 M HCl both in the presence and absence of CTAB, switching time obtained from chronoamperometry and diffusion coefficient values obtained from double pulse chronocoulometry and cyclic voltammetry are presented and discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.