Structure-property relationships in carbon electrochemistry

Carbonaceous nanomaterials can be a game changing materials in many technological fields, especially in electroanalytical applications. However, there is no consensus on the associations between the structure and electrochemical performance of these nanomaterials - even for the most basic electrochemical properties. This challenge stems from the fact that typically carbonaceous nanomaterials are obtained from various sources and not characterized properly. Therefore, to solve this deadlock we carry out systematic electrochemical characterization for a set of in-house fabricated as well as physicochemically thoroughly characterized carbon nanomaterials. We will then proceed to establish structure - performance associations for these materials. In addition, we will highlight how sensitive the electrochemical performance of these materials can be to small changes in their structural properties. Further, we emphasize the lack of correlation between electrochemical performance of electrode materials as determined using outer sphere redox (OSR) and inner sphere redox (ISR) probes the latter being highly analyte specific. As a first consistent set of electrochemical data obtained by using well characterized carbonaceous nanomaterials, this work will provide solid basis to expand the use of these materials in more complex electroanalytical as well as other applications.