ABSTRACT
Surface chemistry plays a relevant role in the physicochemical properties of carbon materials. It is highly in‰uenced by the presence of heteroatoms (mainly oxygen and nitrogen, but also phosphorus, boron, and sulfur) that may form different surface functionalities. They can be found naturally on the carbon surface, but they can also be generated during the carbon material preparation or by subsequent treatments. The occurrence of diverse surface functionalities over the carbon surface governs their reactivity, their chemical and physical stability, and their structure. Along with their porous structure, these properties dictate the potential use of carbon materials in adsorption (Boehm 2008), catalysis (Bandosz 2008), energy storage (Radovic 2010), sensors (McCreery 2008), and biomedical (Bianco et al. 2005; Liu et al. 2007) applications. This is especially manifested in the case of the promising nanostructured carbon materials discovered in the last two decades but is also essential for classic materials like graphite, carbon blacks, and activated carbons.
