Promising electrochemical performance of high-surface-area boron-doped diamond/carbon nanotube electroanalytical sensors

Porous boron-doped diamond (p-BDD) electrodes of high-surface-area have been prepared on vertically aligned carbon nanotube substrates, and their electrochemical performance has demonstrated promising results for application in electroanalysis. The electrochemical features of the p-BDD electrodes were investigated and compared with those of a conventional flat BDD electrode (f-BDD). From cyclic voltammetry studies performed for the electrochemical probes [Fe(CN)6]3− and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-para-phenylenediamine (TMPD), a fast charge transfer was observed at the p-BDD/electrolyte interface. For the [Fe(CN)6]3− redox probe, the heterogeneous electron-transfer rate constant (k0) value obtained for p-BDD was 10.9 times higher than that obtained using a f-BDD electrode. Moreover, the p-BDD electrodes also gave a smaller peak potential separation, ΔEp, and larger analytical signal magnitude for different biomolecules, such as dopamine (DA), acetaminophen (AC), and epinephrine (EP). These set of results demonstrated that the p-BDD electrode is a suitable candidate for applications in electroanalytical chemistry.