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Electrochemistry of Controlled Diameter Carbon Nanotube Fibers at the Cross Section and Sidewall
journal contribution
posted on 2019-12-10, 19:41 authored by Pankaj Gupta, Robert A. Lazenby, Connor E. Rahm, William R. Heineman, Elke Buschbeck, Ryan J. White, Noe T. AlvarezElectrochemistry at open ends and sidewalls of carbon
nanotubes (CNTs) has been under debate, with opposing viewpoints as
to which sites are more electrochemically active. A particular challenge
in this field has been the ability to conduct electrochemical studies
at the open ends of CNTs, without measuring contributions from the
sidewalls. Here, we report on electrochemical measurements taken from
the sidewall of highly densified multiwalled carbon nanotube fibers
(HD-CNTf) and the cross section (i.e., open ends)
of highly densified multiwalled carbon nanotube fibers (HD-CNTfs) embedded in a polymer matrix. The cross section of the
HD-CNTfs was exposed to reveal only open ends to
the electrolyte interface, and this platform allowed us to compare
electrochemistry at the open ends and sidewalls of HD-CNTfs. Cyclic voltammetry was employed to examine the electrochemical
properties of HD-CNTfs by using a conventional bulk
electrochemical cell and microcapillary electrochemical measurements.
The cross sections and sidewalls of HD-CNTfs are
shown to promote similar electron transfer kinetics and electrochemical
activity.