Modification of the surface morphology of the silicon substrate for boron-doped diamond electrodes in electrochemical wastewater treatment applications

For electrochemical wastewater treatment applications, textured boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes were fabricated by using a simple and cost-effective etching process. On the basis of the surface area measurement, the etching time was optimized in order to achieve higher electrochemical wastewater treatment performance. The surface structure, electrochemical properties, and electrochemical oxidation performance of the electrodes were characterized by using Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, in addition to electrochemical techniques. The textured BDD electrode demonstrated a dense and large surface area with no change in the film’s properties. The effective surface area of the textured BDD electrode was approximately twice as large as that of the planar BDD electrode. The electrochemical results clearly demonstrate that the enhanced surface area of the BDD electrode achieves a higher current efficiency and much lower energy consumption in the electrochemical oxidation of methyl-orange.