A highly stable microporous boron-doped diamond electrode etched by oxygen plasma for enhanced electrochemical ozone generation.

[Display omitted] The boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode, having ultra-high oxygen evolution potential and anodic stability, is potentially considered the ideal candidate for the next-generation ozone generator despite the relatively low current efficiency. In this work, we first report using a microporous BDD electrode etched by oxygen plasma, denoted as p-BDD, to improve the performance of electrochemical ozone generation. Two parameters, including O 2 plasma etching temperature and time, are experimentally optimized. We demonstrated that the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of the optimal p-BDD is 2.51 times that of the bare BDD, and this p-BDD shows about one-quarter lower charge transfer resistance than the latter. Under the same unit energy consumption, the p-BDD has 3.76 times the ozone generation capacity compared to the latter. The p-BDD shows excellent long-term stability, only having 4.2% of the decrease in the current density up to 40 h of consecutive water electrolysis under the steady-state period, and it also remains a 100% recovery rate in its capability of electrochemical performance after mild treatment by cycling at a diluted sulfuric acid solution for 200 s • A microporous BDD electrode etched by O 2 plasma (p-BDD) is fabricated. • We first report the use of p-BDD to carry out electrochemical ozone generation. • p-BDD has 3.76 times the capacity of ozone generation compared to the bare BDD. • p-BDD shows excellent stability with only 4.2% of current decrease within 40 h test. • p-BDD remains a 100% recovery rate in electrochemical performance after mild treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]