Preparation, characterization and electrochemical properties of boron-doped diamond films on Nb substrates

A series of boron-doped polycrystalline diamond films were prepared by hot filament （HF） chemical vapor deposition on Nb substrates. The effects of B/C ratio of reaction gas on film morphology, growth rate, chemical bonding states, phase composition and electrochemical properties of each deposited sample were studied by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction, microhardness indentation, and electrochemical analysis. Results show that the average grain size of diamond and the growth rate decrease with increasing the B/C ratio. The diamond films exhibit excellent adhesion under Vickers microhardness testing （9.8 N load）. The sample with 2% B/C ratio has a wider potential window and a lower background current as well as a faster redox reaction rate in H2SO4 solution and KFe（CN）6 redox system compared with other doping level electrodes.

Electrochemical treatment of wastewater containing chlorophenols using boron-doped diamond film electrodes

The electrochemical treatment of wastewater containing chlorophenols （2-monochlorophenol, 4-monochlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol） was carried out experimentally with synthetic boron-d0ped diamond （BDD） thin film electrodes. Current vs time curves under different cell voltages were measured. Removal rate of COD, instant current efficiency （ICE） and energy consumption were investigated under different current densities. The influence of supporting media is reported, which plays an important role in determining the global oxidation rate. The oxidative chloride is stronger than peroxodisulphate. The electrochemical characteristics of boron-doped diamond electrodes were investigated in comparison with active coating Ti substrate anode （ACT）. The experimental results show that BDD is markedly superior to ACT due to its different absorption properties.

Effect of deposition temperature on properties of boron-doped diamond films on tungsten carbide substrate

Boron-doped diamond(BDD)films were deposited on the tungsten carbide substrates at different substrate temperatures ranging from 450 to 850°C by hot filament chemical vapor deposition(HFCVD)method.The effect of deposition temperature on the properties of the boron-doped diamond films on tungsten carbide substrate was investigated.It is found that boron doping obviously enhances the growth rate of diamond films.A relatively high growth rate of 544 nm/h was obtained for the BDD film deposited on the tungsten carbide at 650°C.The added boron-containing precursor gas apparently reduced activation energy of film growth to be 53.1 kJ/mol,thus accelerated the rate of deposition chemical reaction.Moreover,Raman and XRD analysis showed that heavy boron doping(750 and 850°C)deteriorated the diamond crystallinity and produced a high defect density in the BDD films.Overall,600-700°C is found to be an optimum substrate temperature range for depositing BDD films on tungsten carbide substrate.

Boron-Doped Diamond Films Deposited on Silicon Substrates by MPCVD

High quality, good adhesion and p-type diamond films are obtained by microwave plasma chelincal vapordeposition. The area of the films is 20 x 20 nun. The structural morphologies, bonding mechanism and surfacemol'Phology are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering and scanning Electron microscopy(SEM) respectively. The resistance, Hall coefficient, mobility, etc. are also measured. Tile factors related tonucleation and other properties of diamond films are discussed.

Application of Boron-doped Diamond Film Electrode in Fast Detection of Samonella in Water

[Objective] The study aimed to discuss the application of boron-doped diamond （BDD） film electrode in fast detection of samonella in water. [ Method] Boron-doped diamond film electrode was prepared and used as the working electrode in fast detection of salmonella in water using chronoamberometry, and the oxidation mechanism of the electrode acting on salmonella was discussed. [ Result] Compared with traditional biologi- cal methods, chronoamperometry could detect the number of salmonellae in water more simply, rapidly and sensitively. [ Conclusion] The method of using BDD electrode to detect salmonella quantity will be widely applied in future.

Direct and Simultaneous Determination of Phenol, Hydroquinone and Nitrophenol at Boron-Doped Diamond Film Electrode

The electrochemical characteristics of multi-component phenolic pollutants, such as phenol （Ph）, hydroquinone （HQ） and 4-nitrophenol （4-NP）, were investigated on boron-doped diamond （BDD） film electrode by differential pulse voltammetry （DPV） technique. A simple and feasible platform was accordingly established for the direct and simultaneous determination of these three phenolic pollutants. Results showed that, Ph, HQ and 4-NP gave obvious oxidation peaks on BDD electrode at the potential of 1.24, 0.76 and 1.52 V, respectively. Each of them displayed good linear relationship between their oxidation peak currents and their corresponding concentrations in a rather wide range coexisting with one or two of the other phenolic pollutants. The detection limits of Ph, HQ and 4-NP were estimated to be as low as 1.82×10^-6, 1.67×10^-6 and 1.44×10^-6 mol·L^-1, respectively. Therefore, a promising direct and simultaneous electrochemical determination method of multi-component phenolic pollutants in wastewater samples was constructed successfully on BDD electrode with advantages being rapid, simple, convenient, sensitive, in situ and inexpensive.

Edge effect during microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition diamond-film:Multiphysics simulation and experimental verification

This study focused on the investigation of the edge effect of diamond films deposited by microwave plasma chemical vapor de-position.Substrate bulge height△h is a factor that affects the edge effect,and it was used to simulate plasma and guide the diamond-film deposition experiments.Finite-element software COMSOL Multiphysics was used to construct a multiphysics(electromagnetic,plasma,and fluid heat transfer fields)coupling model based on electron collision reaction.Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were performed to characterize the experimental growth and validate the model.The simulation results reflected the experimental trends observed.Plasma discharge at the edge of the substrate accelerated due to the increase in△h(△h=0-3 mm),and the values of electron density(n_(c)),molar concentration of H(C_(H)),and molar concentration of CH_(3)(C_(CH_(3)))doubled at the edge(for the special concave sample with△h=−1 mm,the active chemical groups exhibited a decreased molar concentration at the edge of the substrate).At=0-3 mm,a high diamond growth rate and a large diamond grain size were observed at the edge of the substrate,and their values increased with.The uniformity of film thickness decreased with.The Raman spectra of all samples revealed the first-order characteristic peak of dia-mond near 1332 cm^(−1).When△h=−1 mm,tensile stress occurred in all regions of the film.When△h=1-3 mm,all areas in the film ex-hibited compressive stress.

Electrochemical Characteristics and Applications of Boron-Doped Polycrystalline Diamond Film Electrodes

The elcetrochemical characteristics of boron doped polycrystalline diamond thin film (BDF) electrode 4×4 mm 2 in size were studied using cyclic voltammetry and potentiostatic method. The diamond electrode exhibits adequate electrochemical activity and its response current changes linearly with K 3Fe(CN) 6 concentrations. The response current is proportional to the square root of the scan rate, reflecting mass transport controlled by planar diffusion. Stable mass transport can be quickly established within 4s. The BDF electrode provides good resolving power for the determination of lead and cadmium and gives satisfactory results in the analysis of pure water sample.

Effect of nitrogen on deposition and field emission properties of boron-doped micro-and nano-crystalline diamond films

In this paper,we report the effect of nitrogen on the deposition and properties of boron doped diamond films synthesized by hot filament chemical vapor deposition.The diamond films consisting of micro-grains(nano-grains) were realized with low(high) boron source flow rate during the growth processes.The transition of micro-grains to nano-grains is speculated to be strongly(weekly) related with the boron(nitrogen) flow rate.The grain size and Raman spectral feature vary insignificantly as a function of the nitrogen introduction at a certain boron flow rate.The variation of electron field emission characteristics dependent on nitrogen is different between microcrystalline and nanocrystalline boron doped diamond samples,which are related to the combined phase composition,boron doping level and texture structure.There is an optimum nitrogen proportion to improve the field emission properties of the boron-doped films.

Plasma Processing of Boron-Doped Nano-Crystalline Diamond Thin Film Fabricated on Poly-Crystalline Diamond Thick Film

Plasma treatments of boron-doped nano-crystalline diamond （NCD） thin films were carried out in order to improve their electrical properties of the films. Boron-doped NCD thin films were fabricated on well polished poly-crystalline diamond （PCD） thick films in a microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition （MPCVD） reactor, then they were processed in methane, ar- gon, hydrogen and B2H~ （0.1% diluted by H~） plasmas, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and atomic force microscope （AFM） results show that the surface morphology changed lit- tle during the 10 min treatment. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy （SIMS） results indicate that B2H6 plasma was efficient for increasing boron concentration in NCD films, while the carrier anal- yses demonstrates that CH4 plasma processing was effective to activate the dopants and resulted in good electrical properties.

Phenol degradation by anodic oxidation on boron-doped diamond electrode combining TiO_2 Photocatalysis

Boron-doped diamond （BDD） electrocatalysis is combined with photocatalysis using titanium dioxide （TiO2） as a catalyst to improve pollutant-oxidation efficiency. Phenol solution is chosen as model wastewater. Different methods involving BDD and/or TiO2 during the degradation processes are compared. Parameters such as the currency density and initial concentration are varied in order to determine their effects on the oxidation process. Moreover, the degradation kinetics of phenol is experimentally studied. The results reveal the superiority of series combination of BDD and TiO2, especially the treatment process of electrocatalysis and succedent photocatalysis, and the optimum working currency density for electrocatalysis is 25.48 mA/cm2. The removal rate decreases with the increase in the initial phenol concentration and the degradation reaction follows quasi-first-order kinetics equation.

Ohmic and Schottky contacts of hydrogenated and oxygenated boron-doped single-crystal diamond with hill-like polycrystalline grains

Hill-like polycrystalline diamond grains(HPDGs)randomly emerged on a heavy boron-doped p+single-crystal diamond(SCD)film by prolonging the growth duration of the chemical vapor deposition process.The Raman spectral results confirm that a relatively higher boron concentration(~1.1×10^(21) cm^(-3))is detected on the HPDG with respect to the SCD region(~5.4×10^(20) cm^(-3)).It demonstrates that the Au/SCD interface can be modulated from ohmic to Schottky contact by varying the surface from hydrogen to oxygen termination.The current-voltage curve between two HPDGs is nearly linear with either oxygen or hydrogen termination,which means that the HPDGs provide a leakage path to form an ohmic contact.There are obvious rectification characteristics between oxygen-terminated HPDGs and SCD based on the difference in boron doping levels in those regions.The results reveal that the highly boron-doped HPDGs grown in SCD can be adopted as ohmic electrodes for Hall measurement and electronic devices.

Electrochemical oxidation of reactive brilliant orange X-GN dye on boron-doped diamond anode

In this study,the electrochemical oxidation of reactive brilliant orange X-GN dye with a boron-doped diamond(BDD)anode was investigated.The BDD electrodes were deposited on the niobium(Nb)substrates by the hot filament chemical vapor deposition method.The effects of processing parameters,such as film thickness,current density,supporting electrolyte concentration,initial solution pH,solution temperature,and initial dye concentration,were evaluated following the variation in the degradation efficiency.The microstructure and the electrochemical property of BDD were characterized by scanning electron microscopy,Raman spectroscopy,and electrochemical workstation;and the degradation of X-GN was estimated using UV-Vis spectrophotometry.Further,the results indicated that the film thickness of BDD had a significant impact on the electrolysis of X-GN.After 3 h of treatment,100%color and 63.2%total organic carbon removal was achieved under optimized experimental conditions:current density of 100 mA/cm2,supporting electrolyte concentration of 0.05 mol/L,initial solution pH 3.08,and solution temperature of 60°C.

Electrochemical incineration of dimethyl phthalate by anodic oxidation with boron-doped diamond electrode

The anodic oxidation of aqueous solutions containing dimethyl phthalate （DMP） up to 125 mg/L with sodium sulfate （Na2SO4） as supporting electrolyte within the pH range 2.0-10.0 was studied using a one-compartment batch reactor employing a boron-doped diamond （BDD） as anode. Electrolyses were carded out at constant current density （1.5-4.5 mA/cm^2）. Complete mineralization was always achieved owing to the great concentration of hydroxyl radical （-OH） generated at the BDD surface. The effects of pH, apparent current density and initial DMP concentration on the degradation rate of DMP, the specific charge required for its total mineralization and mineralization current efficiency were investigated systematically. The mineralization rate of DMP was found to be pH-independent and to increase with increasing applied current density. Results indicated that this electrochemical process was subjected, at least partially, to the mass transfer of organics onto the BDD surface. Kinetic analysis of the temporal change of DMP concentration during electrolysis determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography （HPLC） revealed that DMP decay under all tested conditions followed a pseudo first-order reaction. Aromatic intermediates and generated carboxylic acids were identified by Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry （GC-MS） and a general pathway for the electrochemical incineration of DMP on BDD was proposed.

Comparative study of oxidation ability between boron-doped diamond (BDD) and lead oxide (PbO_2) electrodes

The electrochemical oxidation capabilities of two high-performance electrodes,the boron-doped diamond film on Ti （Ti/BDD） and the lead oxide film on Ti （Ti/PbO2）,were discussed.Hydroxyl radicals （·HO） generated on the electrode surface were detected by using p-nitrosodimethylaniline （RNO） as the trapping reagent.Electrochemical oxidation measurements,including the chemical oxygen demand （COD） removal and the current efficiency （CE）,were carried out via the degradation of p-nitrophenol （PNP） under the galvanostatic condition.The results indicate that an indirect reaction,which is attributed to free hydroxyl radicals with high activation,conducts on the Ti/BDD electrode,while the absorbed hydroxyl radicals generated at the Ti/PbO2 surface results in low degradation efficiency.Due to quick mineralization which combusts PNP to CO2 and H2O absolutely by the active hydroxyl radical directly,the CE obtained on the Ti/BDD electrode is much higher than that on the Ti/PbO2 electrode,notwithstanding the number of hydroxyl radicals produced on PbO2 is higher than that on the BDD surface.

Synthesis and characterization of p-type boron-doped IIb diamond large single crystals

High-quality p-type boron-doped IIb diamond large single crystals are successfully synthesized by the temperature gradient method in a china-type cubic anvil high-pressure apparatus at about 5.5 GPa and 1600 K. The morphologies and surface textures of the synthetic diamond crystals with different boron additive quantities are characterized by using an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope respectively. The impurities of nitrogen and boron in diamonds are detected by micro Fourier transform infrared technique. The electrical properties including resistivities, Hall coefficients, Hall mobilities and carrier densities of the synthesized samples are measured by a four-point probe and the Hall effect method. The results show that large p-type boron-doped diamond single crystals with few nitrogen impurities have been synthesized. With the increase of quantity of additive boron, some high-index crystal faces such as {113} gradually disappear, and some stripes and triangle pits occur on the crystal surface. This work is helpful for the further research and application of boron-doped semiconductor diamond.

Effect of substrate temperature on the growth and properties of boron-doped microcrystalline silicon films

Highly conductive boron-doped hydrogenated mieroerystalline silicon （μc-Si：H） films are prepared by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition （VHF PECVD） at the substrate temperatures （Ts） ranging from 90℃ to 270℃. The effects of Ts on the growth and properties of the films are investigated. Results indicate that the growth rate, the electrical （dark conductivity, carrier concentration and Hall mobility） and structural （crystallinity and grain size） properties are all strongly dependent on Ts. As Ts increases, it is observed that 1） the growth rate initially increases and then arrives at a maximum value of 13.3 nm/min at Ts=210℃, 2） the crystalline volume fraction （Xc） and the grain size increase initially, then reach their maximum values at TS=140℃, and finally decrease, 3） the dark conductivity （σd）, carrier concentration and Hall mobility have a similar dependence on Ts and arrive at their maximum values at Ts-190℃. In addition, it is also observed that at a lower substrate temperature Ts, a higher dopant concentration is required in order to obtain a maximum σd.

Synthesis of Boron-doped Diamond/Porous Ti Composite Materials——Effect of Carbon Concentration

Highly boron-doped diamond films were deposited on porous titanium substrates by hot filament chemical vapor deposition technique. The morphology variation of highly boron-doped diamond films grown on porous titanium substrates was investigated, and the effects of carbon concentration on nucleation density and diamond growth were also studied. The continuous change of surface morphology and structure of diamond film were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The structures of diamond film and interlayer were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The quality of boron-doped diamond film was confirmed by visible Raman spectroscopy. The experimental results reveal that surface morphology and quality of boron-doped diamond films are various due to the change of carbon concentration. The thickness of intermediate layer decreases with the carbon concentration increasing.

Effects of deposition pressure and plasma power on the growth and properties of boron-doped microcrystalline silicon films

Using diborane as doping gas, p-doped μc-Si：H layers are deposited by using the plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition （PECVD） technology. The effects of deposition pressure and plasma power on the growth and the properties of μc-Si：H layers are investigated. The results show that the deposition rate, the electrical and the structural properties are all strongly dependent on deposition pressure and plasma power. Boron-doped μc-Si：H films with a dark conductivity as high as 1.42 Ω^-1·cm^-1 and a crystallinity of above 50% are obtained. With this p-layer, μc-Si：H solar cells are fabricated. In addition, the mechanism for the effects of deposition pressure and plasma power on the growth and the properties of boron-doped μc-Si：H layers is discussed.

Electrochemical Detection of Clenbuterol in Pig Liver at Pyrrole DNA Modified Boron-doped Diamond Electrode

The direct detection of clenbuterol（CL） in pig liver without any extraction separation at a pyrrole-DNA modified boron-doped diamond（BDD） electrode is reported. The pyrrole-DNA modified BDD electrode has a strong electrocatalytic effect on the redox reaction of CL. One oxidization and two reduction peaks of CL appear at 340. 2, 299. 8 and 166. 6 mV（ versus SCE）, respectively. The pyrrole polymer alone cannot electrocatalyze the above reaction at a BDD electrode ; the electrocatalytic effect of a BDD electrode modified with DNA membrane is unsufficient for the analytical detection of CL; the replacement of boron-doped diamond by glass carbon makes the electrocatalytic reaction impossible ; the redox process is pH dependent. The influences of various experimental parameters on the pyrrole-DNA modified BDD electrode were investigated. A sensitive cyclic vohammetric response for CL was obtained in a linear range from 3.4 × 10^-6 to 5 × 10^ -4 mol/L with a detection limit of 8.5 × 10^-7 mol/L. A mean recovery of 102. 7% of CL in the pig liver sample solution and a reproducibility of 3.2% were obtained.