Electrochemical conversion of glassy carbon into a poly-nucleophilic reactive material. Applications for carbon chemical functionalization. A mini-review

During the last decade, various carbon modifications were achieved via radical addition of substituted aryl radicals produced at the surface by chemical or/and electrochemical reduction of corresponding aryldiazonium salts. Very recently, surface reactivity of carbons toward electrophilic halo-derivatives with long alkyl chains had been developed. Surface nucleophilicity of carbons was induced by their specific cathodic charge (at E < - 1.7 V in nonaqueous electrolytes) affecting the nano-crystallites (mainly graphite) contained in glassy carbons due to the mode of its manufacturing (high temperature carbonization of phenolic resins). This new paradigm of surface decoration was successfully applied using alkyl halides, carbon dioxide, dioxygen, sulfonyl chlorides etc. and proved efficient with allotropic varieties of carbon (in particular graphites and graphene). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.