Electrochemical intercalation into graphite seen as an electrocapillary process

The electrochemical intercalation of H₂SO₄ into graphite leads to the well known graphite salts C⁺_n HSO^?₄. χH₂SO₄ (with n → 20), χ ≈ 2.5). The potential—charge relations observed during intercalation agree well with a model involving the extended graphene layer-intercalate interfacial capacitance. The components of this capacitance are studied, including the effect of Fermi level lowering. A computed electrocapillary curve is compared to the separation work of graphene layers.