Electro-analysis Using Unmodified Boron Doped Diamond Electrodes

The use of unmodified boron doped diamondBoron doped diamond electrodesElectrodes for electroanalyticalElectroanalytical purposes is presented. These electrodes are highly promising in chemical analyses because of some well-known electrochemical propertiesElectrochemical properties, including a wide potential windowPotential window in aqueous media and low double-layer capacitanceDouble-layer capacitance. Due to their carbon sp3Sp nature, they are extremely resilient to corrosionCorrosion and anodicAnodic wearAnodic wear. They are also less prone to foulingFouling than other more conventional electrodes. These features make them very good candidates for usage outside the laboratory. The main parameters affecting the reactivity of boron doped diamondBoron doped diamond are recalled: boron doping level, sp2Sp carbon content at the electrode surface, chemical surface terminationSurface termination (hydrogen terminatedHydrogen terminated, oxidized, etc.), surface polishingPolishing. The importance of electrochemical electrode pretreatment before analytical usage is emphasized, which can be of different nature: potentiostaticPotentiostatic or galvanostaticGalvanostatic anodic and cathodicCathodic steps, cathodic to anodic potential scans or current pulses alternating between anodic and cathodic. All these pretreatments are affecting strongly the performances of the electrodes and have been a subject of contemporary researches. Some recent applications of boron doped diamondBoron doped diamond electrodes are then described, which include the quantification of single analytes using voltammetricVoltammetric or electrochemiluminescenceElectrochemiluminescence principles, or the classification of chemical samples made of complex mixtures of electroactiveElectroactive chemical species using chemometricChemometric approaches.