Due to their chemical
and thermal stability, electrical
conductivity,
and high specific surface areas, nanocarbons and porous carbon materials
have found use in numerous key applications within the current transition
of energy and raw-material sources. Since all these applications rely
on multiphase interactions between the carbon surface and surrounding
solid, liquid, or gaseous phases, carbon surface chemistry is elevated
to a critical factor of influence. However, the characterization of
carbon surface chemistry is notoriously complex, involving carbon
defect sites and chemically similar heteroatom species in a wide range
of different binding states and chemical environments. Due to this
high degree of complexity, a comprehensive characterization of carbon
surface species and reactivity is a major challenge for which there
is no analytical “silver bullet” but is fundamental
to the rational development of advanced functional carbon materials.
In this context we would like to highlight the potential of temperature-programmed
techniques (TPX) for carbon surface analytics, which benefit from
widely available, easy-to-handle equipment and offer information on
the identity, quantity, and reactivity of surface species. Hence,
this article reviews the state of the art concerning temperature-programmed
techniques for carbon surface characterization, focusing not only
on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of carbon surface species
but also on the unique ability of temperature-programmed methods to
assess carbon surface reactivity. In this context, progress made so
far in temperature-programmed desorption, temperature-programmed reduction,
and temperature-programmed surface reactions is discussed, highlighting
pitfalls and gaps in knowledge. Based on this foundation, strategies
for the further development of temperature-programmed methods for
carbon surface analysis are proposed, aiming to establish TPX as the
future gold-standard in carbon surface characterization.