one preferred embodiment for making a nanotube - coated electrode is by high temperature hydrocarbon decomposition on a substrate . the substrate material must be biocompatible , electrically conductive , and capable of nucleating or catalyzing the desired nanotube structures . preferred substrate materials include tantalum , titanium , zirconium , platinum , iridium , and niobium . a different base material can be used if the substrate is provided with a coating of these metals or with a coating of a nitride , carbide , carbonitride , or oxide of these metals . an example of this is a tantalum coating on a titanium substrate . both materials are biocompatible , however , titanium is less expensive than tantalum . carbon is another preferred catalyst material for growing nanotubes . preferably , the carbon is in the form of a machined vitreous carbon electrode or as a thin film carbonaceous coating over a machined metal electrode . sputtering is one preferred method for applying a relatively thin film carbon coating , in which case the coating consists of amorphous carbon . in particular , if the sputtered amorphous carbon is doped with nitrogen , such as by the presence of nitrogen in the sputter process gas , then the resulting film is an effective catalyst for subsequent growth of nanotubes . if nitrogen is provided , it is preferably at a concentration of about 1 to about 57 atomic percent . the advantage of this carbon nanotube / carbon catalyst system is that the electrode - tissue interface is limited to various allotropes of carbon , which are highly biocompatible materials . that is , when the metal substrate is first provided with sputtered amorphous carbon , it is prevented from being exposed to body fluids and body tissue . if the catalyst layer were a biocompatible metal rather than carbon , the porous nanotube layer would allow the metal to be exposed to body fluids and tissue . u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 872 , 422 and 5 , 973 , 444 , both to xu et al ., describe a conventional process for growing a carbon fiber on a metallic substrate , such as for use in a picture tube . however , the present invention has adapted this process for the production of a nanotube - coated electrode . the process begins with a shaped electrode substrate made of or coated with the appropriate catalyst material first being placed in a closed chamber with a flowing hydrogen atmosphere . the chamber is heated to a temperature from about 350 ° c . to about 1150 ° c ., more preferably from about 550 ° c . to about 850 ° c . when the desired temperature is reached , the hydrocarbon flow is started . hydrocarbons useful for growing nanotubes are gaseous and include acetylene , methyl acetylene - propadiene ( mapp ) gas , and a gas from the paraffin series , i . e ., methane , ethane , propane , butane , pentane , etc , and mixtures thereof . additionally , having been bubbled through an ammonium hydroxide solution can provide the hydrocarbon with an ammonia addition . a typical coating formation time is about 5 minutes to about 1 hour , preferably about 15 minutes . cooling is done in hydrogen . the resulting nanotubes are generally classified as being nanotube ropes . plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition is another preferred method for making a nanotube - coated electrode substrate . the plasma assisted cvd process can be performed by microwave excitation , or by other means . this process is preferred because the resulting nanotube arrays are more highly aligned , which is an objective in attempting to mimic a conventional columnar titanium nitride coating . the morphology of the nanotubes is partially impacted by the hydrogen source gas . for example , acetylene at about 650 ° c . gives nanotube ropes about 20 to 50 nm in diameter ( fig1 ). changing to mapp gas bubbled through nh 3 oh with a heating temperature of about 550 ° c . results in coarse , more tightly adhering , oriented spiky carbon whiskers ( fig2 a and 2b ). alternatively , bulk loose nanotubes are attached to the electrode surface by means of a thin film binder coating consisting of a biocompatible metal or conductive metal oxide deposited by means of a metal compound precursor in liquid form . the basic method of thin film deposition is described in greater detail in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 919 , 135 to phillips , which is incorporated herein by reference . bulk nanotubes are commercially available from numerous sources ; for example : nanostructured and amorphous materials , inc ( los alamos , n . mex .). suitable binder precursors include chloroiridic acid ( hydrogen hexachloroiridate iv hydrate ), chloroplatinic acid , titanium ( iv ) chloride , zirconium ( iv ) chloride , niobium ( v ) chloride , tantalum ( v ) chloride , and mixtures thereof . the binder is prepared at room temperature by first dissolving the precursor compound of the biocompatible metal in a solvent . preferred solvents are alcohols such as tert - butanol , isopropanol , and ethanol . loose nanotubes are then mixed into the precursor solution at a high shear rate . the resulting homogeneous mixture is applied to the electrode surface as a thin film by dipping , spraying , doctor blading , by dropper application , or otherwise contacting the metal compound / solvent / nanotube mixture thereto . solvent removal is by drying the substrate in a warmed atmosphere . this produces a thin metal compound / nanotube layer on the electrode surface . a low temperature heat treatment converts the metal compound layer to a metal / nanotube or metal oxide / nanotube composite thin film . this heating step is carried out at a temperature of about 300 ° c . to about 500 ° c . for a time ranging from about 30 minutes to about 3 hours . the resulting thin film has a thickness of about 100 to 500 nanometers , and resembles a porous metal matrix composite with the biocompatible conductive metal oxide or metal as the matrix and the nanotubes being the second phase . in the case of an iridium oxide binder formed from chloroiridic acid , iridium metal is easily oxidized , and a metal oxide binder results . the preferred converting atmosphere is air . in the case of a binder of platinum , titanium , zirconium , niobium , and tantalum , the respective platinum , titanium , zirconium , niobium , and tantalum metals do not oxidize at the temperatures used . instead , heating the precursors of these metals in an inert atmosphere , such as of argon , nitrogen , helium , and a vacuum , is expected to result in a metal binder . the following examples describe the manner and process of a nanotube - coated substrate according to the present invention , and set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventors of carrying out the invention . a tantalum substrate was placed in a closed chamber . the chamber was heated to about 650 ° c . with hydrogen gas flowing through the chamber at a rate of about 1 liter / min . for about every 20 cc of reactive volume . when the reaction chamber reached the desired temperature , 0 . 5 liter / min of acetylene was added to the reaction gas stream . after about 15 minutes , it was observed that a useable nanotube coating had grown in - situ on the tantalum substrate . the photographs in fig3 a and 3b show the resulting in - situ grown nanotube coating on the tantalum substrate at magnifications of 20 , 000 × and 50 , 000 ×, respectively . a useable nanotube coating can be grown in a similar manner on a substrate of titanium , zirconium , iridium , platinum , niobium , and nitrogen - doped amorphous carbon , or virtually any substrate provided with a thin film coating of these materials . these catalytic or nucleating materials have biocompatible properties similar to those of tantalum . etching in aqueous oxalic acid solution at 80 ° c . for 1 hour cleaned a titanium electrode tip . a chloroiridic acid solution was prepared by dissolving 1 gram of chloroiridic acid in 35 ml of isopropyl alcohol at room temperature with stirring . loose nanotube powder was then added while stirring at a high shear rate until a thick , viscous mixture was obtained . the iridium oxide coated substrate was then dipped into the mixture to provide a viscous coating of nanotubes thereon . heating the coated substrate to about 340 ° c . in air for about 1 hour converted the metal chloride to iridium metal , which was then subsequently oxidized by further heating . the iridium oxide coated substrate had embedded nanotubes . the photograph in fig4 shows a similarly generated nanotube coating bonded to a pyrex ® glass substrate with iridium oxide binder at a magnification of 20 , 000 ×. while the experiment was done with a titanium electrode tip , the reason for the glass substrate was because glass is easily fractured and then viewed edge - on in the sem in order to image a cross section of the thin film coating . with sub - micron coatings it is very difficult to get a cross section from the titanium part itself . pyrex ® glass was used because it withstands the 340 ° c . heat treatment without softening or shattering . it is appreciated that various modifications to the inventive concepts described herein may be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims .