Nitrogen-Incorporated Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon Film Electrodes on Ti Substrates by Hybrid Deposition Technique and Annealing. Issue 3 (10th December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Teng Fei; Kim, Kwang-Wook; Kim, Kwang Ho
• Is Part Of: Journal of the Electrochemical Society. Volume 163:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: E54
• Page End: E61
• Publication Date: 2015-12-10
• Subjects: annealing -- BDD -- electrochemical property -- electrode -- multi-layers -- N-doped DLC -- resistivity; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; 541.3705
• DOI: 10.1149/2.0051603jes
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4651

Abstract

Abstract : A new method was adopted to fabricate the nitrogen-incorporated hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) film electrodes with TiN/TiCN/DLC multilayers on Ti substrates by a hybrid deposition technique and post annealing. The TiN and TiCN sublayers acted as adhesive layers and a nitrogen donor source for the DLC layer. Solid diffusion of nitrogen from these sublayers to the DLC layer occurred during annealing to form the N-incorporated DLC films. The electrical resistivity of the DLC films was significantly reduced by annealing process due to the graphitization and incorporation of N. The potential window of the DLC/Ti electrodes slightly decreased after annealing, while the electrochemical activity and catalytic ability of the electrodes for the redox of Fe(CN)6 3−/4− were significantly improved, which was attributed to the decreased resistivity and the active C-N function group on the electrode surface. The optimized annealing temperature was 800°C and the DLC/Ti800°C electrode exhibited comparable electrochemical characteristics with the boron-doped diamond electrode and superior properties than the Pt/Ti and glassy carbon electrodes, which made it promising electrode candidate for wastewater treatment. The correlations between the microstructure evolution and the electrochemical properties of the DLC films at various annealing temperatures were also systematically investigated.