Electrochemical properties of ordered mesoporous carbon film adsorbed onto a self-assembled alkanethiol monolayer on gold electrode

A stable ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) film electrode was successfully constructed by adsorbing OMC onto a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of C ₁₈H₃₇SH chemisorbed on the Au electrode. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and electrochemical methods were used to characterize the properties of the OMC film electrode. The adsorbed OMC can restore the heterogeneous electron transfer almost totally blocked by the alkanethiol monolayer. Nyquist plots show a sharply decrease of the charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of the Fe(CN)₆ ^3-/4- 6 couple at the OMC film electrode. Furthermore, the OMC film electrode is found to possess a significantly reduced interfacial capacitance and largely enhanced current response of hydrogen peroxide. This novel approach to the fabrication of stable OMC film electrode with excellent electrochemical properties is believed to be very attractive for electrochemical studies and electroanalytical applications.