Carbon electrode materials are the conductive backbone of many modern batteries and capacitors, but the density of states in carbon electrodes is often mismatched with that of relevant redox-active species, such that carbon cannot fully access the available energy and power capability of many important redox reactions. For this reason, carbon electrodes continue to be re-engineered in order to support higher energy and power density, as we recently demonstrated for planar pyrolytic carbon electrodes modified by nanometric ruthenia. Our present work modifies the surface of planar pyrolytic carbon with precious metal nanoparticles in order to take advantage of their “gold standard” fast electron-transfer kinetics while assuming almost none of the expense of a noble metal because these nanoparticles are present in trace quantities only. In this study, we deposit pyrolytic carbon films from dilute benzene vapors at 1000°C (CVD-C), a form of carbon with a similar graphitic microstructure to that of the carbons used as intercalation hosts or conductive additives. Commercially obtained gold nanoparticles are electrosorbed at CVD-C electrodes, and the potential energy difference between the reduction and oxidation waves of various redox probes is measured via cyclic voltammetry over a range of scan rates. The effect of gold nanoparticles on the rate-constant for heterogeneous electron transfer is evaluated; preliminary evidence demonstrates that the electrodes become increasingly electrochemically active after heating.

Studying the rate of electron transfer at pyrolytic carbon electrodes

255th National Meeting (2018)

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