Boron-doped diamond micro/nano/ ultrananocrystalline films: influence of morphology and SP2/SP3 ratio in the detection/removal of heavy metals

Abstract

This project proposes the synthesis of boron-doped diamond films (BDD) micro, nano and ultrananocrystalline by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), in addition to their morphology, structure and electrochemical characterizations. These films will be applied to the detection/removal of heavy metals (Pb2 , Cd2 ) in water in environmental control.BDD electrodes have been extensively studied in recent years due to their attractive electrochemical properties, e.g. high thermal conductivity; high hardness and chemical inertness; a wide electrochemical potential window in aqueous and non-aqueous media; a very low capacitance and a very high electrochemical stability. Therefore, in this project aims to carry out a systematic study of this effect in electroanalytical and electrochemical properties of the BDD films on the following factors: dopant amount, grain size (micro, nano and utranano), as well as the ratio of carbons sp2/sp3, the presence of impurities (transpolyacetylene), surface groups of H/O-terminations promoted by cathodic or anodic pre-treatments.In this project different BDD films are morphologically and structurally characterized using electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and contact angle measurements. Finally, the films will be applied in the detection/removal of heavy metals (Pb2 and Cd2 ) in synthetic water samples and possibly real samples, besides to be electrochemically characterized by voltammetric techniques: cyclic, linear, differential pulse and square wave. The obtained results will be validated with other analytical techniques such as ion chromatography and polarography. (AU)