Abstract
This chapter covers most of the aspects related to the capacity of some carbon materials to act as proton sinks. The first section is devoted to some fundamental definitions, historical background, relevance, and, particularly, the assessment of the basicity of carbons. The concept of basic site on the surface of carbons is also introduced. Four types of basic sites, namely oxygen surface functional groups, heteroatom (other than oxygen) surface functional groups, basal planes and edges, and inorganic (or mineral) matter, are proposed as the main contributors to the basicity of carbon materials. The main core of the chapter describes these four families in terms of occurrence, relative basic strength, and accessibility. Special attention is paid to some of the controversies that still remain when ascribing the basicity of carbon materials to one particular site over the rest. Finally, some open questions are drawn to stress the need for further fundamental research in the field of carbon basicity.
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