Influence of the surface termination on the electrochemical properties of boron-doped diamond (BDD) interfaces

The paper reports on the electrochemical study of heavily boron-doped diamond (BDD) in aqueous media. Cyclic voltammetry and Mott-Schottky analysis were used to evaluate the influence of the surface termination on the electrochemical properties of BDD electrodes. The behavior of aminated BDD (NH2–BDD) interfaces, prepared from hydrogen-terminated BDD using NH3 plasma and from photochemically oxidized BDD (HO–BDD) using 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMES), are investigated and compared to those of H–BDD and HO–BDD. While H–BDD and HO–BDD electrodes show classical semiconductor behavior, amine-terminated BDD interfaces exhibit metallic behavior at pH < 10 and a semiconductor behavior at more basic pH.