In this work, we report a favorable diamond substrate to realize semiconductor surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for trace molecular probes with high sensitivity, stability, reproducibility, recyclability and universality. The boron-doped diamond (BDD) with surface hydrogenation or oxygenation has matched energy levels corresponding to the target molecules and plays a critical role in achieving SERS. The enhancement factor based on BDD substrates can reach 10⁴–10⁵, which approaches those obtained with most nanostructured compound semiconductors and is nearly 3–4 orders of magnitude higher than those of state-of-the-art single-element semiconductors (silicon, germanium, and graphene). The mechanism of SERS is determined to be charge transfer with vibronic coupling, which could enhance the molecular polarizability tensor. Because of its unique properties such as chemical inertness, wide bandgap, modulated doping, surface functionalization, biocompatibility, and high thermal conductivity, the single-element semiconductor diamond can serve a high-performance semiconductor SERS platform with applications in broad fields.

Aniline is a mutagenic and carcinogenic material for human health, and it is desirable to construct high-performance detecting system for the trace detection of aniline. In this work, the boron (B)/nitrogen (N)-doped diamond (BND) films prepared by chemical vapor deposition are proposed as electrochemical electrodes to detect aniline in a wide concentration scale. The BND electrodes have a high sensitivity (detect limitation of 0.29 μmol L⁻¹) and a wide linear detection range (0.5 − 500 μmol L⁻¹). Both the detection limitation and linear range are significantly improved with respect to that from traditional electrodes of boron-doped diamond and various carbonaceous materials, which can be attributed to the synergistic effect of increased electrochemistry reduction and density of reaction sites on the BND electrode surfaces. This work develops a kind of electrochemical electrodes of B/N-doped diamond films with high performances for quantitative detections of aniline in practical applications. Supplemental data for this article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/26941112.2021.1939170

Nano-needle boron-doped diamond (NNBDD) films increase their performance when used as electrodes in the determination of Pb²⁺. We develop a simple and economical route to produce NNBDD based on the investigation of the diamond growth mode and the ratio of diamond to non-diamond carbon without involving any templates. An enhancement in surface area is achievable for NNBDD film. The NNBDD electrodes are characterized through scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). Furthermore, we use a finite-element numerical method to research the prospects of tip-enhanced electric fields for sensitive detection at low Pb²⁺ concentrations. The NNBDD exhibits significant advantages and great electrical conductivity and is applied to detect trace Pb²⁺ through DPASV. Under pre-deposition accumulation conditions, a wide linear range from 1 to 80 µgL⁻¹ is achieved. A superior detection limit of 0.32 µgL⁻¹ is achieved for Pb²⁺, which indicates great potential for the sensitive detection of heavy metal ions.