Boron-doped diamond (BDD) is a diamond material in which some of the carbon atoms in diamond have been replaced by boron atoms. Diamond has a face-centered cubic crystal structure, in which carbon atoms are interconnected in a tetrahedral configuration using sp3 hybridization.
Due to the small atomic radius of boron atoms, they can easily enter the diamond lattice, replacing carbon atoms to form boron-doped diamond. Boron atom substitution can occur on the surface or internally. Surface substitution increases the hole concentration on the diamond surface,
but the boron content is too low to meet the requirements of electrochemical applications.
In contrast, internal substitution significantly increases the boron and hole concentrations, significantly improving the material's conductivity and making BDD more suitable as a semiconductor electrode in electrochemical applications.
