Publication details

Authors: Doepke, A.; Han, C.; Back, T.; Cho, W. D.; Dionysiou, D. D.; Shanov, V.; Halsall, H. B.; Heineman, W. R. 
Title: Analysis of the Electrochemical Oxidation of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Tower Electrodes in Sodium Hydroxide 
Type: Journal Article 
Publisher: Electroanalysis 
Year: 2012 
Volume: 24 
Issue: 
Start Page: 1501 
End Page: 1508 
DOI: 10.1002/elan.201200105 
Abstract: Towers of aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were electrochemically oxidized in aqueous 1 M NaOH. An oxidation current that decayed with time was monitored using amperometry at a fixed potential. Cyclic voltammetry showed that the background current and electrode capacitance increased after oxidation without significantly affecting the faradaic current from the reduction of ferricyanide. Oxidation in NaOH caused morphological changes and increased hydrophilicity of the MWCNT tower electrodes. XPS spectra indicated increased oxygen on the surface after oxidation, while Raman spectra indicated that a large amount of amorphous carbon was present before and after oxidation. 
Keywords: cnt, nanotubes, electrochemical oxidation, sodium hydroxide, raman-spectra, nanoelectrode arrays, sulfuric-acid, spectroscopy, supercapacitors, purification, pretreatment, growth