Tetrahedral amorphous carbon (Ta:C) is a diamond-like carbon (DLC) material comprised of a mixture of sp2 (~40%) and sp3-bonded (~60%) carbon domains. The physicochemical structure and electrochemical properties depend strongly on the sp2/sp3 bonding ratio as well as on the incorporation of impurities, such as hydrogen or nitrogen. The ability to grow Ta-C films at lower temperatures (25-100 �C) on a wider variety of substrates is a potential advantage of these materials compared with diamond films. In the present work, we report on the basic structural and electrochemical properties of nitrogen-incorporated Ta-C thin films. The incorporation of nitrogen into Ta-C films has been shown to increase the electrical conductivity primarily by increasing the sp2-bonded carbon content. The major goal of this work was to determine if the N-Ta-C films exhibit electrochemical properties more closely aligned with those of diamond or glassy carbon. Much like diamond, these materials are characterized by a low background voltammetric current, a wide working potential window, relatively rapid electron-transfer kinetics for aqueous redox systems such as Fe(CN)6-3/-4 and Ru(NH3)6+3/+2.

Electroanalytical performance of nitrogen-containing tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin-film electrodes

244th National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.