Boron single-crystal electrodes

In addition to thin-film electrodes, compact diamond single crystals grown at high temperature and high pressure have become the object of electrochemical study in recent years. These so-called HTHP crystals can be obtained by crystallization from a carbon solution in a metal melt (e.g., based on the Ni-Fe-Mn system) at /arranges that correspond to the conditions of thermodynamic stability of diamond. These crystals can be also doped with boron in the course of growth. 

In much of the research on boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes published thus far, for both fundamental and appHed aspects, polycrystalline thin films have been used, because continuous BDD thin films of high quality and purity can be obtained easily and useful research results can be obtained. However, in order to understand the electrochemical properties of diamond electrodes in greater detail, especially concerning the relationships between the crystal structure and the electrode properties, it is becoming essential to carry out studies with single-crystal diamond electrodes. 

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