Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Fibers from Felts

Electrochemical behaviors of individual carbon fibers coming from carbon felts were investigated using two different redox couples, 1,1 '-dimethanolferrocene and potassium ferrocyanide. Electrochemical responses were examined after different oxidation treatments, then simulated and interpreted using the Kissa 1D software and existing models. Our experiments indicate that a crude carbon fiber behaves as an assembly of sites with different electrochemical reactivities. In such case, the Butler-Volmer law is not appropriate to describe the electron transfer kinetics because of the large created overpotential. Oxidation of the fiber erases the effect by increasing the kinetics of the electron transfer probably by a homogenization and increase of the reactivity on all the fiber. Additionally, analysis of the signal shows the large influence of the convection that affects the electrochemical response even at moderate scan rates (typically below 0.1-0.2 V s(-1)).

Automated summary

The electrochemical behaviors of carbon fibers from carbon felts were studied using different redox couples. The results showed that the original carbon fiber had different electrochemical reactivities at different sites and the Butler-Volmer law was not suitable to describe the electron transfer kinetics. Oxidation treatment improved the electron transfer kinetics and the analysis revealed the significant influence of convection on the electrochemical response.