Characterization of Carbon Materials

The manifold and tuneable properties of carbon materials make them indispensable materials for flow batteries, may it be as electrodes or as bipolar plates. To understand their function and to further develop these materials toward a given application, their thorough characterization is mandatory. This chapter will first provide a short overview about carbon structures and will then discuss the most important techniques to access carbon structural features. Given the importance of carbon surface chemistry and surface functional groups, e.g. for electrocatalysis and hydrophilicity, a short introduction on the most familiar methods of modifying carbons will be presented, followed by a detailed discussion of surface characterization techniques relevant to carbon materials. Finally, techniques to unravel morphological features will be covered.