Chemical and Structural Analysis of Carbon Materials Subjected to Alkaline Oxidation.

Redox species such as transition metals may, unknowingly, integrate carbon materials that are produced (or supplied) for the assembling of electrodes in batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. The extent to which these species alter the electrochemical profile of carbons and affect the performance and/or degradation of energy storage systems is still not fully appreciated. Alkaline oxidation (or fusion) is a promising approach to disintegrate nanocarbons for the subsequent study of their chemical composition by routine analytical tools.

Elemental Quantification and Residues Characterization of Wet Digested Certified and Commercial Carbon Materials.

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) is a common, relatively low cost, and straightforward analytical technique for the study of trace quantities of metals in solid materials, but its applicability to nanocarbons (e.g., graphene and nanotubes) has suffered from the lack of efficient digestion steps and certified reference materials (CRM).