Electrochemical scanning probe analysis used as a benchmark for carbon forms quality test

Carbon forms (graphite, pyrolitic graphite, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, glassy carbon, carbon foam, graphene, bucky paper, etc.) are a wide class of materials largely used in technology and energy storage. The huge request of carbon compounds with reliable and tunable physical and chemical properties is tackled by contriving new production protocols and/or compound functionalizations. To achieve these goals, new samples must be tested in a trial-and-error strategy with techniques that provide information in terms of both specimen quality and properties. In this work, we prove that electrochemical scanning probe techniques allow testing the performances of carbon compounds when are used as an electrode inside an electrochemical cell. Comparing the results with a reference sample (namely, highly oriented pyrolitic graphite, HOPG) gives an insight on defects in the specimen structure, performances and possible applications. In this study, we concentrate on traditional carbon forms already employed in many fields versus new specimens produced by Optigraph GmbH, in view of possible applications to the field of energy storage.