Aqueous electrochemistry of C₆₀ incorporated in artificial lipid thin-film on a p-type semiconductive diamond electrode

The redox reactions of C₆₀ fullerene incorporated into a cast film of an artificial lipid (tri-n-dodecylmethylammonium bromide, 3C₁₂N⁺Br^-) on a boron-doped p-type semiconductive diamond electrode were investigated in an aqueous medium. The electrode showed one quasi-reversible and one sigmoidal wave in the cyclic voltammogram. In contrast, three quasi-reversible waves were observed when using a basal-plane pyrolytic graphite electrode. The redox mechanism of C₆₀ in the 3C₁₂N⁺Br^- film on the diamond electrode is explained using an electron energy diagram. The significance of the surface states in the hole transfer processes from the diamond electrode to C₆₀ in the lipid film is discussed.