Cyclic voltammetric behavior of nitrogen-doped tetrahedral amorphous carbon films deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc

Nitrogen-doped tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C:N) films were deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum are (FCVA) technique using nitrogen as a background gas. The structure of the ta-C:N films was studied with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy in terms of nitrogen flow rate used during the film deposition. Potential windows of the films measured in deaerated and unstirred solutions, such as 0.5 M HCl, 0.1 M KCl, 0.1 M NaCl, 0.1 M KOH, and 0.1 M NaOH, were about 2.4, 2.32, 3.2 3.1, and 3.25 V, respectively. This study showed that the potential windows of the ta-C: N films were also affected by nitrogen flow rate. The ta-C: N films used in this study had the desired voltammetric characteristics suitable for electrochemical analysis.