Issue 19, 2016

Interfacial doping of carbon nanotubes at the polarisable organic/water interface: a liquid/liquid pseudo-capacitor

Abstract

The electrochemical reactivity of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films, assembled at a polarisable organic/water interface, has been probed using model redox species. Electrons generated by the oxidation of organic 1,1′-dimethylferrocene (DMFc) to DMFc+ can be transferred through the assembled SWCNT layer and reduce aqueous ferricyanide (Fe(CN)63−) to ferrocyanide (Fe(CN)64−), with a doping interaction observed. Several electrochemical techniques, including cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), were employed to confirm that the model redox couples dope/charge the SWCNTs. In situ Raman spectro-electrochemistry was also applied to verify the charge transfer processes occurring at the assembled SWCNT films and confirm that the doping effect of the carbon nanotubes is initiated by electrochemical reactions. This doping interaction indicated that the adsorbed SWCNT films can act as a pseudo-capacitor, showing a high area-normalised capacitance. The deeper understanding of the electrochemical properties of SWCNTs, gained from this study, will help determine the performance of this material for practical applications.

Graphical abstract: Interfacial doping of carbon nanotubes at the polarisable organic/water interface: a liquid/liquid pseudo-capacitor

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Mar 2016
Accepted
11 Apr 2016
First published
11 Apr 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016,4, 7365-7371

Interfacial doping of carbon nanotubes at the polarisable organic/water interface: a liquid/liquid pseudo-capacitor

P. S. Toth, A. N. J. Rodgers, A. K. Rabiu, D. Ibañez, J. X. Yang, A. Colina and R. A. W. Dryfe, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016, 4, 7365 DOI: 10.1039/C6TA02489K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements