Investigation of modified basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes: definitive evidence for the electrocatalytic properties of the ends of carbon nanotubes.

The basis of the electrocatalytic nature of multi-wall carbon nanotubes is suggested to reside in electron transfer from the ends of nanotubes, which structurally resemble the behaviour of edge plane (as opposed to basal plane) graphite, and is demonstrated via the comparison of the electrochemical oxidation of epinephrine and the electrochemical reduction of ferricyanide at nanotube-modified electrodes using different types of graphite electrodes and with C(60)-modified electrodes.