Effect of electrochemical pretreatments on the superficial terminations of boron-doped diamond electrodes and influence of these terminations on the electrochemical response of different redox species

• Grant number: 14/11769-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): February 21, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Romeu Cardozo Rocha Filho
• Grantee: Ricardo Francisco Brocenschi
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/03347-0 - Use of scanning electrochemical microscopy to investigate the effect of electrochemical treatments on the activity of boron-doped diamond electrodes towards different redox species, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

In the last 20 years, boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes have been progressively more used in electrochemistry, especially as anodes in environmental electrochemistry and as sensors in electroanalytical chemistry. These electrodes have called attention especially because they present several interesting characteristics comparatively to other electrode materials (even other varieties of advanced carbon materials), foremost the following, mostly from the electroanalytical point of view: low and stable background current, wide potential window between the regions of reduction and oxidation of water, good signal repeatability for many redox species, and weak adsorption of polar molecules on the electrode surface. However, in many cases, the electrochemical activity toward a specific redox species can be affected by the type of surface termination on the BDD electrode (predominantly hydrogen or not, then involving different oxygen groups). In aqueous medium, the type of surface termination can be changed electrochemically through the hydrogen evolution reaction or the oxygen evolution reaction. Hence, by means of different techniques (electrochemical, XPS etc.), we intend to investigate the effect of different types of polarization, anodic and cathodic, on the extension and composition of the BDD surface terminations. Once this effect is understood, we intend to investigate the influence of distinct types and contents of BDD surface terminations on its electrochemical activity toward different redox species in aqueous solution, when, if possible, new electroanalytical methods will be developed for the determination of these species. Furthermore, we intend to look for possible correlations between electrochemical activities, physico-chemical properties of the molecules, and the superficial states of the BBD electrode.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BROCENSCHI, RICARDO F.; SILVA, TIAGO A.; LOURENCAO, BRUNA C.; FATIBELLO-FILHO, ORLANDO; ROCHA-FILHO, ROMEU C. Use of a boron-doped diamond electrode to assess the electrochemical response of the naphthol isomers and to attain their truly simultaneous electroanalytical determination. Electrochimica Acta, v. 243, p. 374-381, JUL 20 2017. Web of Science Citations: 12.

BROCENSCHI, RICARDO F.; HAMMER, PETER; DESLOUIS, CLAUDE; ROCHA-FILHO, ROMEU C. Assessments of the Effect of Increasingly Severe Cathodic Pretreatments on the Electrochemical Activity of Polycrystalline Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes. Analytical Chemistry, v. 88, n. 10, p. 5363-5368, MAY 17 2016. Web of Science Citations: 28.