Chemical modification of carbon surfaces with oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur groups
- 1Department of Chemistry, University of Ostrava, 30. dubna, Ostrava, 702 00, Czech Republic
Abstract
Functionalizing carbon materials with heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur is widely reported as an effective strategy for tailoring surface chemistry and enhancing performance in many applications. The incorporation of these functional groups can significantly modify the surface polarity, acidity/basicity, hydrophilicity, and electronic characteristics of carbon materials, making them more interactive with reactive species and pollutants. This review provides a comprehensive and integrated overview of the major strategies to introduce oxygen-, nitrogen-, and sulphur-containing functionalities onto carbon surfaces including chemical, thermal, plasma, and precursor-based methods. Emphasis is placed on the nature, stability and chemical behaviour of the resulting surface functionalities and their possible influence on the adsorption capacity, catalytic activity, and electrochemical performance. While extensive studies exist on individual heteroatoms, their comparative effects, formation pathways, and structure-property relationships remain fragmented in the literature. By consolidating dispersed findings, this review clarifies how heteroatom functionalization governs carbon surface reactivity and identifies key knowledge gaps related to functional group stability under realistic operating conditions. The presented insights aim to inform the rational design of heteroatom-modified carbon materials, particularly for environmental and sustainable technologies. Review of oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur modifications in carbon Comparative overview of surface functionalization methods Bonding, stability, and synergistic roles of heteroatom groups Impacts on adsorption, catalysis, and electrochemical properties
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BibTeX
@article{perveen2026chemical,
title = {{Chemical modification of carbon surfaces with oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur groups}},
author = {Sajida Perveen and Václav Slovák},
journal = {Journal of Saudi Chemical Society},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1007/s44442-026-00091-9},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s44442-026-00091-9},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Chemical modification of carbon surfaces with oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur groups
AU - Sajida Perveen
AU - Václav Slovák
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/01
JO - Journal of Saudi Chemical Society
DO - 10.1007/s44442-026-00091-9
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s44442-026-00091-9
AB - Functionalizing carbon materials with heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur is widely reported as an effective strategy for tailoring surface chemistry and enhancing performance in many applications. The incorporation of these functional groups can significantly modify the surface polarity, acidity/basicity, hydrophilicity, and electronic characteristics of carbon materials, making them more interactive with reactive species and pollutants. This review provides a comprehensive and integrated overview of the major strategies to introduce oxygen-, nitrogen-, and sulphur-containing functionalities onto carbon surfaces including chemical, thermal, plasma, and precursor-based methods. Emphasis is placed on the nature, stability and chemical behaviour of the resulting surface functionalities and their possible influence on the adsorption capacity, catalytic activity, and electrochemical performance. While extensive studies exist on individual heteroatoms, their comparative effects, formation pathways, and structure-property relationships remain fragmented in the literature. By consolidating dispersed findings, this review clarifies how heteroatom functionalization governs carbon surface reactivity and identifies key knowledge gaps related to functional group stability under realistic operating conditions. The presented insights aim to inform the rational design of heteroatom-modified carbon materials, particularly for environmental and sustainable technologies. Review of oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur modifications in carbon Comparative overview of surface functionalization methods Bonding, stability, and synergistic roles of heteroatom groups Impacts on adsorption, catalysis, and electrochemical properties
SN - 1319-6103
SN - 2212-4640
ER -