Study of the influence of the graphite powder particle size on the structure of the Sonogel-Carbon materials

In this paper, the influence of carbon particles size on structure and on electrochemical and physical properties of the Sonogel-Carbon electrodes, with respect to Sonogel materials without graphite, have been studied. The materials have been characterized electrochemical and structurally; several Sonogel-Carbon materials were synthesized using different types of graphite powder as massive modifiers, adding in some cases other modifiers, such as octadecyl (C18) and polyethyleneglycol (PEG). Differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry were the voltammetric techniques employed to evaluate the electrochemical behaviour; Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Infrared Spectroscopy were the techniques employed to realize the superficial/structural characterization of the materials. The results obtained in both studies were very useful to explain the structure of the Sonogel-Carbon materials. Furthermore, they allowed to conclude that electrodes based on RW-B and UF graphites show very similar electrochemical behaviours and internal structures.