Fabrication and characterization of diamond quartz crystal microbalance electrode

Boron-doped diamond film on a quartz crystal electrode was prepared by a reflow technique. The mass sensitivity of this diamond-quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor was determined by performing Fe2+ electrodeposition. This novel electrochemical QCM sensor was quite stable under several electrochemical experimental conditions. Its wide potential window and significantly low background current are just the same as the performance of a diamond electrode. We also showed that the fabricated diamond-QCM electrode worked satisfactorily as a useful tool for electrochemical microgravimetry by examining hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution, and oxidation of the diamond surface in acidic solutions. It was found that evolved H-2 inserted into the bulk of as-grown diamond with a storage volume of 0.06 mol/dm(3) in 0.5 M HCl solution, after sweeping the potential from 0 to 23 V at a scan rate of 10 mV/s, in contrast to O-terminated diamond-QCM, which inhibited hydrogen intercalation. (C) 2002 The Electrochemical Society.