A boron-doped diamond(BDD) electrode is attractive for many electrochemical applications due to its distinctive properties: an extremely wide potential window in aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes, a very low and stable background current and a high resistance to surface fouling. An Ar gas mixture of H2, CH4 and trimethylboron (TMB, 0.1 % C3H9B in H2) is used in a hot filament chemical vapor deposition(HFCVD) reactor. The effect of argon addition on quality, structure and electrochemical property is investigated by scanning electron microscope(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and cyclic voltammetry(CV). In this study, BDD electrodes are manufactured using different Ar/CH4 ratios (Ar/CH4 = 0, 1, 2 and 4). The results of this study show that the diamond grain size decreases with increasing Ar/CH4 ratios. On the other hand, the samples with an Ar/CH4 ratio above 5 fail to produce a BDD electrode. In addition, the BDD electrodes manufactured by introducing different Ar/CH4 ratios result in the most inclined to (111) preferential growth when the Ar/CH4 ratio is 2. It is also noted that the electrochemical properties of the BDD electrode improve with the process of adding argon.

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode has an extremely wide potential window in aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes, very low and stable background current and high resistance to surface fouling due to weak adsorption. These features endow the BDD electrode with potentially wide electrochemical applications, in such areas as wastewater treatment, electrosynthesis and electrochemical sensors. In this study, the characteristics of the BDD electrode were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and evaluated by accelerated life test. The effects of manufacturing conditions on the BDD electrode were determined and remedies for negative effects were noted in order to improve the electrode lifetime in wastewater treatment. The lifetime of the BDD electrode was influenced by manufacturing conditions, such as surface roughness, seeding method and rate of introduction of gases into the reaction chamber. The results of this study showed that BDD electrodes manufactured using sanding media of different sizes resulted in the most effective electrode lifetime when the particle size of alumina used was from 75~106 μm (#150). Ultrasonic treatment was found to be more effective than polishing treatment in the test of seeding processes. In addition to this, BDD electrodes manufactured by introducing gases at different rates resulted in the most effective electrode lifetime when the introduced gas had a composition of hydrogen gas 94.5 vol.% carbon source gas 1.6 vol.% and boron source gas 3.9 vol.%.

In this study, we evaluated the treatment efficiency of livestock wastewater by altering the current density using boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. As the current density was adjusted from 10 to 35 mA/cm2, the removal efficiency of organic matter increased from 22.2 to 71.5%. Similar to that of organic matter, the removal efficiency of color increased with increasing current density up to 85.7%, indicating a higher removal efficiency for color than that of organic matter. The removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen increased from 14.6 to 53.3% as the current density increased, but it was lower than that of organic matter. In addition, the removal of organic matter, color, and ammonia nitrogen followed first-order reactions, according to the reaction rate analysis. The energy consumption ranged from 4.87 to 8.33 kWh/kg COD, and it was found that the organic matter removal efficiency was more efficient at high current densities. Based on various analyses, the optimal current density was 20 mA/cm2, and the corresponding energy consumption was 6.824 kWh/kg COD.