Applied Surface Science, Vol.480, 1109-1115, 2019
Azide-alkyne click reactions to prepare chemically modified amorphous carbon electrodes
Current chemistries used to modify the surfaces of metal oxide semiconductor films are susceptible to hydrolysis and degrade at high, positive potentials. Amorphous carbon (aC) films are an attractive alternative to metal oxides for the preparation of chemically modified electrodes, with surfaces and surface chemistries that are stable under atmospheric conditions and in solution. Here, we prepared azide-terminated aC films, which were further modified with a copper catalyzed azide-alkyne click reaction. We utilized X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry to show this modification strategy was selective to films containing azide group, enabling a new means of preparing modified aC electrodes.