title: Electrochemically Active Thin Carbon Films with Enhanced Adhesion to Silicon Substrates.
abstract: Thin carbon films deposited on technologically relevant substrates, such as silicon wafers, can be easily implemented in miniaturized electrochemical devices and used for sensing applications. However, a major issue in most carbon films is the weak film/substrate adhesion that shortens the working device lifetime. This paper describes the facile preparation of robust thin carbon films on silicon substrates by one-pot sol-gel synthesis. The improved adherence of these carbon films is based on the incorporation of silica through the controlled synthesis of a resorcinol/formaldehyde gel modified with aminopropyltriethoxysilane. The films demonstrate excellent adhesion to the silicon substrate, good homogeneity, excellent electrical conductivity and superior electrochemical performance. Moreover, this approach opens the door to the fabrication of carbon thin-film electrodes by photolithographic techniques.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB (CSIC) , Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB (CSIC) , Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Asturias-Arribas
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB (CSIC) , Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Martí
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gich
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC) , Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB (CSIC) , Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roig
keywords: adhesion; carbon films; electrochemical sensors; hybrid materials; silica; sol−gel