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Plasma-tailored SPCEs for enhanced surface reactivity and electron transfer: Toward improved electrodes ; S.Luhar; Surfaces and Interfaces 2025
Creator:Luhar, Sunil ; Sadowska, Kamila
Publisher: Date issued/created: Date on-line publ.: Description: Degree discipline : Subject and Keywords:Plasma treatment ; Wettability surface engineering ; Electrode ; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy ; Diffusion processes ; predictive model
Abstract:
Carbon-based electrodes have emerged as essential components in modern electrochemical systems because of their outstanding electrical conductivity, chemical stability, and customizable surface characteristics. In this study, we explore the impact of oxygen plasma treatment on the surface properties of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE). Plasma exposure durations of 1, 3, and 5 min were applied to systematically investigate the extent of surface modification. The treatment effectively introduces oxygen-containing functional groups, thereby enhancing surface wettability, promoting faster electron transfer kinetics, and improving overall elec-trochemical performance. Comprehensive characterization was performed using X-ray photoelectron spectros-copy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Additionally, contact angle measurements were conducted to assess changes in hydrophi-licity. To correlate wettability with electrochemical behavior, a predictive model was developed in which both the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) and electron transfer rate constant (ket) scale with cos(θ)/Rct. The results demonstrate that oxygen plasma treatment significantly increases the number of surface polar groups and reduces the charge transfer resistance. These findings highlight the potential of plasma-based surface en-gineering as a powerful and environmentally friendly strategy to optimize the SPCE for high-performance ap-plications in electrochemistry.
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Surfaces and Interfaces, Volume 76, 1 November 2025, 107943
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