Correlation between electrochemical reactivity and surface chemistry of amorphous carbon nitride films

Abstract

Amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN x ) films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering technique display a moderate electrochemical reactivity. However, after electrochemical activation by a cathodic pretreatment in acidic solution, they exhibit a quasimetallic behavior. This behavior has been notably assessed by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). The approach curves show that the a-CN x electrode surfaces are made of active and inactive domains. These surfaces have also been characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and XPS. AFM shows that the a-CN x surface roughness remains very low after the activation treatment. XPS analyses indicate that the electrochemical activation of the a-CN x materials is associated with a decrease in the number of superficial nitrogen atoms involved in sp 3 CN bonds.

Electronic state modification in laser deposited amorphous carbon films by the inclusion of nitrogen

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] The interest in carbon nitride has been renewed due to its potential as an electronic thin film for both cold cathode displays 7 and electrode materials in electrochemical studies of water treatment. 8 Electronic properties have been reported for both hydrogenated and nonhydrogenated amorphous carbon nitride. In particular, it is found that nitrogen incorporation has a beneficial effect on electric field emission at low microscopically applied fields by reducing the threshold electric field.…”

Screen-printed carbon electrode modified on its surface with amorphous carbon nitride thin film: Electrochemical and morphological study

“…Nevertheless, on the only basis of our results and recent published work [41], the relationship between the electrochemical reactivity of amorphous carbon nitride and its structure still remains to be not well understood. In short, the electrochemical reactivity is often linked to several factors, especially the chemical groups created at the surface by introducing some functionalities as carbon-nitrogen or carbon-oxygen.…”

“…In addition, the influence of a high fraction of edge plane on sp 2 carbon material on the electrochemical and electrical properties has to be considered. It is well known that in many cases the electrochemical pre-treatment could remarkably increase the reversibility of the charge transfer process as recently discussed by Cachet et al [41]. The authors correlated the electrochemical reactivity to the chemical surface composition of CN x materials and suggested that the sp 3 bonds could act as insulating sites.…”

Determination of surface amine groups on amorphous carbon nitride thin films using a one step covalent grafting of a redox probe

“…Conversely, applications in electroanalysis for heavy metals detection by stripping voltammetry [20][21][22][23] or biological analyte detection [24], in catalysis [25,26], for anti-corrosion coatings [27][28][29], humidity sensing [30], elaboration of a-CN x (or a-C)/metal composite materials [31][32] or new p-n junctions [33][34] A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 3 have been proposed. Moreover, these materials possess a very smooth surface, as shown from AFM images on a-CN x films when deposited by cathodic sputtering on doped silicon [35].…”