Carbon Surface Chemistry: New Insight into the Old Story

Abstract

The enormous complexity of the carbon material family has provoked a phenomenological approach to develop its potential in different applications. Although the electronic, chemical, mechanical, and magnetic properties of carbon materials have been widely discussed based on defect control engineering, there is still a lack of fundamental understanding of the carbon surface chemistry, which leads to many controversial conclusions. Here, by analyzing various defects on carbon surface, some commonly neglected aspects and misunderstandings in this field are pointed out, clarifying how surface chemistry affects the chemical behaviors of carbon in some specific chemical reactions. With this full‐scale consideration of the carbon surface chemistry, the behaviors of carbon materials with various functions can be well defined, which is indispensable for their scalable applications. Perspectives on future developments of carbon surface chemistry are also provided to enable practically accessible design of advanced carbon in those applications.

Cu–Co bimetallic nanocluster Mott–Schottky interaction increasing oxygen reduction reaction activity in rechargeable Zn-air batteries

“…Based on a previous molecular design, 26,27 3D PCF was chosen as the anchoring carbon platform in this study. As evidenced, 32 this platform with abundant edge sites and specic oxygen-containing functional groups was able to alleviate the agglomeration of metal species during wet deposition (Fig. S2 †).…”

“…This clearly indicates that there is a strong interaction between carbonyl (CO) and Co 2+ ions. 32 Similarly, compared with PVP, the spectral changes in the fingerprint region of cross-linked PVP-Cu −160 °C 2+ are also more obvious (Fig. S4b†).…”

Regulation of the B Site at La(Ni0.1)MnO3 Perovskite Decorated with N-Doped Carbon for a Bifunctional Electrocatalyst in Zn–Air Batteries

“…Abundant defects could regulate the surface and electronic properties, thus optimizing the adsorption energies of reaction steps . Moreover, the carbon defect form of N doping also can be considered active sites in certain catalytic reactions . The obtained defects derived from the pyrolysis of La-MOF are favorable for improving ion transfer and conductivity .…”

Metal‐Free Catalytic Reduction of 4‐Nitrophenol to 4‐Aminophenol by sp3@sp2‐Hybridized Bucky Nanodiamond

“…This result further indicates that the thermally unstable surface functional groups (e.g., carboxylic and anhydride groups) are unfavorable for the reduction of 4‐NP, while the graphene‐like shell layers are beneficial to the catalytic reduction of 4‐NP. We know that the carboxylic and anhydride groups provide Brønsted acidity, [ 28 ] which will be negatively charged in an alkaline solution. The zeta potential of fresh ND was measured to be −28.0 eV in the alkaline solution, indicating that the surface of fresh ND is indeed negatively charged.…”