XPS Supported INS and DRIFT Spectroscopy of sp2 Amorphous Carbons

TL;DR

This study combines INS, DRIFT, and XPS spectroscopy to analyze the structural and functional group compositions of various amorphous carbons, revealing specific hydrogen and oxygen configurations and their influence on properties.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive spectral analysis linking structural units to functional groups in amorphous carbons, introducing reliable molecular models.

Findings

Hydrogen components are characterized by methine groups in natural amorphics.

Oxygen functional groups are reliably identified and modeled.

Hydrogen composition influences electrooptic properties of carbon spectra.

Abstract

We carried out a joint analysis of the INS, DRIFT, and XPS spectra of a set of sp2 amorphous carbons of the highest carbonization rank representing natural substances (shungite carbon, anthraxolite, and anthracite), technical graphenes (laboratory reduced graphene oxides), and industrial products (carbon blacks). It was determined, that the DRIFT spectra of the studied substances consist of two components determined by hydrogen and oxygen compositions in the circumference of graphene molecules, which represent the basic structural units of amorphic compounds. Methine groups typify the hydrogen component of natural amorphics while hydroxymethyls and methyls do the same job for the studied technical graphenes and hydroxyfurans for carbon blacks. A particular specificity of the methine-based hydrogen compositions to enhance electrooptic characteristics of the DRIFT spectrum of carbon atoms has been established. A comparable analysis of DRIFT and XPS spectra has allowed a reliable personification of the oxygen functional groups compositions of the studied amorphics resulting in a set of dependable molecular models of their basic structural units.