Diamond electrochemistry at the nanoscale: A review

Abstract

Diamond electrochemistry using planar macroscopic diamond films has been widely investigated. Due to the non-uniform doping in diamond, boundary effects, and the varied ratios of graphite to diamond, such systems only provide averaged electrochemical signals over the full electrode. To clarify electrical and electrochemical properties of diamond at the nanoscale, the use of diamond nanostructures (e.g., nanotextures, nanowires, networks, nanoelectrodes, etc.) and particles (e.g., undoped nanoparticles, boron-doped particles), is highly important. In this paper, recent progress and achievements concerning diamond nanoelectrochemistry are considered. After a brief introduction of synthetic strategies to form diamond nanostructures and particles, their electrochemical properties in the presence and absence of redox probes are shown, followed by their use in electroanalysis (e.g., electrochemical, biochemical sensing, etc), electrochemical energy storage (e.g., electrochemical capacitors, batteries, etc.), electrocatalysis, and related applications. Topical problems and the future of diamond nanoelectrochemistry are discussed.

Diamond Nanostructures and Nanoparticles: Electrochemical Properties and Applications

“…If diamond nanoelectrode arrays or ensembles are applied for sensor applications, their performances with respect to the sensitivity, detection limit, life time, and reproducibility, will be highly improved [10,130,142,143]. This is because boron-doped diamond is one of the most appropriate and optimized material for the fabrication of these arrays and ensembles [6,137]. Moreover, since a macroscopic diamond electrode shows a higher degree of inhomogeneity with respect to boron-doping level and termination effects due to its macroscopic dimensions, one would thus expect a homogenized behavior on a diamond nanoelectrode array (NEA) or nanoelectrode ensemble (NEE) [131,132].…”

Influence of the Nature of Boron‐Doped Diamond Anodes on the Dehydrogenative Phenol‐Phenol Cross‐Coupling

“…[13,14] Due to these unique features, BDD differs from other conventional electrode materials and is ideally suited for a wide variety of applications in research and industry. Contemporary research areas using BDD electrodes range from electroanalysis, [2,15] electrosynthesis of inorganic and organic compounds, [7,16] nanochemistry, [17] biochemical sensor systems [18] and water treatment [4,19] such as disinfection and purification.…”

Nano‐engineered Diamond‐based Materials for Supercapacitor Electrodes: A Review

“…Highly conductive BDD as a sp 3 carbon material may be then regarded as a promising capacitor electrode over other sp 2 carbon electrodes. Assuming a boron concentration of 10 21 , potential windows of approximately 3.2 V in aqueous, 4.6 V in organic, and even 4.9 V in ionic‐liquid‐based electrolytes are reached . Knowing that the specific capacity of stored energy is determined by a simple equation E = CU 2 , where C is specific capacitance and U is the cell voltage, the wide potential window offered by BDD significantly increases its value.…”