Electrochemical insertion of lithium into a doped diamond film grown on carbon felt substrates

Abstract This paper summarizes the preliminary results obtained from lithium electrochemical intercalation into boron-doped diamond films grown on carbon felt (BDD/CF electrode). BDD films have been grown by Hot Filaments Chemical Vapor Deposition (HFCVD) and have been characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Raman Scattering spectroscopy. BDD/CF composite electrodes, which contain a diamond layer, lead to higher conductivity and smaller grain sizes. In turn, they are richer in boundary or sp2 sites, and present a reversible specific capacity that is much larger than that of the substrate alone, indicating that the diamond layer effectively participates in lithium storage. Diamond layers displaying boron doping levels of 1019 and 1021 part cm− 3 provide a specific capacity of 160 and 370 mA h g− 1, respectively, which is associated with lithium storage.