ABSTRACT CTS-9509842 This is a study of the electrochemical kinetic behavior of diamond (doped and undoped; single-crystal and polycrystalline) and an evaluation of its potential as an electrode material in electrochemical technology. Factors influencing the electrochemical behavior of diamond film are explored, including dopant levels, type of dopants, surface pretreatment, plasma etching, annealing treatments, diamond morphology, and graphitic content. Undoped and doped diamond thin films with various surface morphologies are grown on molybdenum silicon, glassy carbon, single-crystal diamond, and graphite substrates by microwave plasma and hot-filament techniques. Anodic and cathodic transfer coefficients, corrosion rate, exchange current density, double-layer capacitance, film resistance, polarization resistance, and/or charge-transfer resistance of diamond electrodes in a 0.5 M salt solution are determined using AC impedance and DC polarization techniques. Voltammetric techniques are used to study redox behavior of model systems, working potential limits of diamond electrodes in various electrolytes, and electrocatalysis by doped diamond and by platinum/iridium or ruthenium dioxide on diamond. It is generally accepted that further advances in industrial electrochemistry will require new electrode materials. Diamond is a promising, but as yet unproven, candidate. ***
