Electrografting of 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane on a Glassy Carbon Electrode for the Improved Adhesion of Vertically Oriented Mesoporous Silica Thin Films

Vertically oriented mesoporous silica has proven to be of interest for applications in a variety of fields (e.g., electroanalysis, energy, and nanotechnology). Although glassy carbon is widely used as an electrode material, the adherence of silica deposits is rather poor, causing mechanical instability. A solution to improve the adhesion of mesoporous silica films onto glassy carbon electrodes without compromising the vertical orientation and the order of the mesopores will greatly contribute to the use of this kind of modified carbon electrode. We propose here the electrografting of 3-amino-propyltriethoxysilane on glassy carbon as a molecular glue to improve the mechanical stability of the silica film on the electrode surface without disturbing the vertical orientation and the order of the mesoporous silica obtained by electrochemically assisted self-assembly. These findings are supported by a series of surface chemistry techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Finally, methylviologen was used as a model redox probe to investigate the cathodic potential region of both glassy carbon and indium tin oxide electrodes modified with mesoporous silica in order to demonstrate further the interest in the approach developed here.