Chemical and Electrochemical Syntheses of Conducting Polymers

Inzelt, G. (1987J. Chemical and electrochemical syntheses of conducting polymers. In Conducting Polymers a New Era in Eiectrochemistiy, 2nd ed.. Chapter 4 (Springer Science Business Media] pp. 149-171. 

Chemical and Electrochemical Syntheses of Conducting Polymers Oj003... 

G. D. Storrier, S. B. Colbran, D. B. Hibbert, Chemical and electrochemical syntheses, and characterization of poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline) (PDMA) - a novel, soluble, conducting polymer, Synthetic Metals 1994, 62, 179. 

The main advantage of PEO as a host is that it is chemically and electrochemically stable since it contains only strong unstrained C-O, C-C, and C-H bonds. The disadvantage is the inherent crystallinity, and considerable effort has gone into synthesizing all-amorphous polymer hosts. Unfortunately, with the bulk conductivity as the prime motivator, many amorphous polymer hosts incorporate organic functional groups which limit their practical application. Detailed accounts of many of the hosts synthesized have been reviewed [8, 32-36],... 

Conductive polymers may be synthesized via either chemical or electrochemical polymerization methods. Electrodeposition of conductive polymers from electrolytes is, thus, feasible provided that the depositing polymer is not soluble in the electrolyte.206 Conductive polymers can be deposited from the electrolytes containing the monomers via either electrooxidation or electroreduction, based on the monomer type used. Similar to that of metals, the electrodeposition of polymers is based on nucleation and growth. The deposition mechanism involves oxidation of monomers adsorbed on the electrode surface, diffusion of the oxidized monomers and oligomerization, formation of clusters, and eventually film growth.213... 

Electrochemical polymerization is a fast and simple, widely used method to synthesize different conducting polymers. Electrodeposition enables film formation on surfaces with complicated patterns as well as control of film thickness [5]. Furthermore, the subsequent growth of the polymer film and the charging reactions can be followed in situ [6]. Parameters such as solvent media, electrolyte, electrochemical method used for polymerization and monomer material, all have a profound effect on film morphology, charge transfer and transport properties. Different from the powdery products prepared through chemical approaches, this method enables an easy one-step deposition of the film directly at the surface of the electrode substrate that can be further applied for electrochemical purposes. 

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