Doped glassy carbon: A new material for electrocatalysis

Glassy carbon is an important material for electrochemical catalysis, particularly as an electrode material. Current methods for the preparation of glassy carbon are described, together with a discussion of recent progress in the modification of the surface of glassy carbon. Surface modification of glassy carbon, with the intent of mediating its electrochemical behaviour, remains an important research topic. Methods to achieve this goal, including surface absorption of electrochemically active species, covalent attachment of active species and coating the surface of glassy carbon with thin films, are reviewed briefly. We describe a new low-temperature approach to preparing homogeneously modified, rather than surface modified, glassy carbon, using the thermolysis of poly(phenylene diacetylene)s as the carbon solid precursor. This methodology is compatible with the introduction of a wide variety of heteroatoms, including nitrogen, silicon and fluorine, and allows the preparation of thin films of glassy carbon. The incorporation of platinum in various oxidation states is described and the electrochemical response of the platinum-doped glassy carbons is described.