Electrochemical Oxidation of Glassy Carbon Provides Similar Electrochemical Response as Graphene Oxide Prepared by Tour or Hummers Routes

Abstract This work presents an in situ route to electrochemically prepare an oxidized carbon surface from glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs), which generates a material with a similar electrochemical response as graphene oxide. The proposed in situ route is fast, simple, environmentally friendly and consists in applying a potential of +1.8 V vs. SCE to a GCE. The oxidized electrode surface (GCE OS ) and its subsequent electrochemical reduction (GCE ERS ) can be accomplished easily and efficiently by electrochemical techniques. GCE OS and GCE ERS were characterized by electrochemical, spectroscopic and microscopy techniques, revealing the in situ origin of the material and confirming its chemical similarity to the graphene oxide prepared by the Hummers and Tour methods. The presence of a 2D atomically thick material was not observed, which strongly indicates that the electrochemical response of graphene oxide resides only in the oxygenated functional groups. The remaining oxygenated groups in GCE ERS show a drastic cathodic shift of potential (542 mV) for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) electrooxidation.