Chemical and electrochemical characterization of porous carbon materials

Chemical and electrochemical techniques have been used in order to asses surface functionalities of porous carbon materials. An anthracite has been chemically activated using both KOH and NaOH as activating agents. As a result, activated carbons with high micropore volume (higher than 1 cm³/g) have been obtained. These samples were oxidized with HNO₃ and thermally treated in N₂ flow at different temperatures in order to obtain porous carbon materials with different amounts of surface oxygen complexes. Thermal treatment in H₂ was also carried out. The sample treated with H₂ was subsequently treated in air flow at 450 °C. Thus, materials with very similar porous texture and widely different surface chemistry have been compared. The surface chemistry of the resulting materials was systematically characterized by TPD experiments and XPS measurements. Galvanostatic and voltammetric techniques were used to deepen into the characterization of the surface oxygen complexes. The combination of both, chemical and electrochemical methods provide unique information, regarding the key role of surface chemistry in improving carbon wettability in aqueous solution and the redox processes undergone by the surface oxygen groups. Both contributions are of relevance to understand the use of porous carbons as electrochemical capacitors.