Agradecimentos: The authors wish to thank the Electron Microscope Unit at the University of Bristol, School of Chemistry, for use of their facilities. PWM & HZ thank the Royal Society Newton Fund (grant number NI140181) for travel funds to make this UK/Brazil collaboration possible. DJF acknowledges the support by the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of Bristol, (University Research Fellowship 2015). VC & DJF are also grateful or resources and financial support through the UK Catalysis Hub Consortium (EPSRC grants EP/K014706/1, EP/K014668/1, EP/K014854/1, EP/K014714/1 and EP/M013219/1). The authors also thank the EPSRC BristolBridge award: Bridging the Gaps between the Engineering and Physical Sciences and Antimicrobial Resistance (grant EP/M027546/1) for funding the trials of antimicrobial surfaces Ver menos

This report describes a method to fabricate high-surface-area boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes using so-called ‘black silicon’ (bSi) as a substrate. This is a synthetic nanostructured material that contains high-aspect-ratio nano-protrusions, such as spikes or needles, on the Si surface produced via plasma etching. We now show that coating a bSi surface composed of 15 μm-high needles conformably with BDD produces a robust electrochemical electrode with high sensitivity and high electroactive area. A clinically relevant demonstration of the efficacy of these electrodes is shown by measuring their sensitivity for detection of dopamine (DA) in the presence of an excess of uric acid (UA). Finally, the nanostructured surface of bSi has recently been found to generate a mechanical bactericidal effect, killing both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria at high rates. We will show that BDD-coated bSi also acts as an effective antibacterial surface, with the added advantage that being diamond-coated it is far more robust and less likely to become damaged than Si Ver menos