Effective activation of physically small carbon electrodes by n-butylsilane reduction

•n-butylsilane reduction successfully activated non-functioning physically small carbon electrodes.•Conversion of oxygen functionalities to C–H bonds on a carbon electrode•Fabrication success rate of physically small carbon electrodes improved to nearly 100%.•Hydrogenated carbon electrodes showed stability even after one-week storage.

In this work, we report a simple, effective activation of structurally small carbon electrodes by forming an H-terminated carbon surface using n-butylsilane reduction. The electrode surface modification was confirmed by electrochemistry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry of [Ru(NH3)6]3+ at these hydrogenated carbon electrodes yielded sigmoidal-shaped cyclic voltammograms with minimal charging current. They also exhibited superb stability after one-week storage in air or citrate/phosphate buffer.

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