Structure and Electroanalytical Application of Nitrogen-doped Carbon Thin Film Electrode with Lower Nitrogen Concentration

We studied a nitrogen-doped nanocarbon film electrode with a nitrogen concentration of lower than 10.9 at% formed by the unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering method. The sp(3) content in the nitrogen-doped UBM sputtering nanocarbon film (N-UBM film) slightly increases with increasing nitrogen concentration. The nitrogen-containing graphite-like bonding decreases and pyridine-like bonding increases with increasing nitrogen concentration. The N-UBM film has a very smooth surface with an average roughness of 0.1 to 0.3 nm, which is almost independent of nitrogen concentration. The N-UBM film electrode shows a wider potential window (4.1 V) than a pure-UBM film electrode (3.9 V) due to its slight increase in the sp3 content. The electrocatalytic activity increased with increasing nitrogen concentration, suggesting that the electroactivity is maximum when the nitrogen concentration is around 10.9 at%, which is confirmed by the peak separation of Fe(CN)(6)(4-). The hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) reduction potentials at the N-UBM film electrode shifted about 0.1 V, and the peak current of H2O2 increased about 4 times.