Nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon as optically transparent electrode for infrared attenuated total reflection spectroelectrochemistry

This contribution describes the development of nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon (N-DLC) thin films for multi-reflection mid-infrared (MIR) attenuated total reflectance (IR-ATR) spectroelectrochemistry. N-DLC coatings were deposited using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) involving the ablation of a high purity graphite target. The DLC matrix was further modified by ablating the target in the presence of nitrogen gas. This technique offers the advantage of depositing thin films at room temperature, thereby enabling coating of temperature-sensitive substrates including e. g., MIR waveguides. The resulting films were analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and determined to be composed of carbon, nitrogen, and adventitious oxygen. Raman spectroscopic studies indicate that the addition of nitrogen induces further clustering and ordering of the sp(2)-hybridized carbon phase. The electrochemical activity of PLD fabricated N-DLC films was verified using the Ru(NH3)(3+/2+) redox couple, and was determined to be comparable with that of other carbon-based electrodes. In situ spectroelectrochemical studies involving N-DLC coated zinc selenide (ZnSe) MIR waveguides provided evidence concerning the oxidation of N-DLC at anodic potentials in 1 M HClO4 solutions. Finally, the electropolymerization of polyaniline (PAni) was performed at N-DLC-modified waveguide surfaces, which enabled spectroscopic monitoring of the electropolymerization, as well as in situ studying the structural conversion of PAni at different potentials.