Surface Characterization of Carbon Materials by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Surface physicochemical properties are sensitive to preparation techniques, including physical and chemical treatments. Thus, surface treatments could induce significant changes in the surface modification of several materials. From its earliest days, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was widely used as a powerful tool for understanding the nature of many different types of surfaces. Over the past 30 years many researchers have explored important aspects of the surfaces of treated materials. Also, XPS was an essential tool for understanding important aspects of natural and synthetic materials that cannot easily be investigated using other techniques. Today, carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, graphene, activated carbons, and carbon blacks are being increasingly studied for many potential applications related to their superior chemical stability, mechanical strength, and thermal and electrical conductivity. In addition, the surface treatment of carbon materials could provide the various functionalities and affected their properties significantly through the functional groups induced onto the carbon materials. Therefore, the understanding of the surface features of carbon materials is very important. This chapter focuses on applications of XPS in several carbon material studies, surface treatment methods, and understanding and defining the surface characteriztics of functionalized carbon materials using XPS.