Preparation of multifunctional porous carbon electrodes through direct laser writing on a phenolic resin film

Porous carbon is an essential topic in the field of materials research. It has been shown to be useful in promising applications involving electrochemical sensors, energy storage, and electrothermal conversion. However, the preparation of porous carbon usually needs high-temperature calcination, which consumes a large amount of energy. This study presents that patterned porous carbon electrodes were conveniently and precisely prepared with direct laser writing on the phenolic resin. The porous carbon electrodes exhibited five to ten times higher sensibility than conventional glassy carbon electrodes as electrochemical sensors for the detection of nitrite and dopamine. The addition of Prussian blue in the phenolic resin enhanced the electrochemical capacitance of the electrodes to 631 F m−2. After the charge–discharge test for 1000 cycles, the device retained good cycling characteristics. The multifunctional carbon material also had an excellent electrothermal property and produced a noticeable Joule heating effect at a low applied voltage.