Conducting polymers analytical chemistry

Principles and Characteristics A substantial percentage of chemical analyses are based on electrochemistry, although this is less evident for polymer/additive analysis. In its application to analytical chemistry, electrochemistry involves the measurement of some electrical property in relation to the concentration of a particular chemical species. The electrical properties that are most commonly measured are potential or voltage, current, resistance or conductance charge or capacity, or combinations of these. Often, a material conversion is involved and therefore so are separation processes, which take place when electrons participate on the surface of electrodes, such as in polarography. Electrochemical analysis also comprises currentless methods, such as potentiometry, including the use of ion-selective electrodes. 

Feb. 28,1934, Camden, NJ, USA - Mar. 3,2003, Cincinnati, OH, USA) Mark received a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. from Duke University. He was postdoc at the University of North Carolina and at the California Institute of Technology. After a faculty position at the University of Michigan he served from 1970 until his death as Professor in the Chemistry Department of the University of Cincinnati. Mark was electrochemist and analytical chemist. His major contributions concern spectroelectrochemistry and conducting polymer electrodes. He was among the pioneers of kinetic methods of analysis. His scientific work is documented in over 300 publications and 14 books which he either has written or edited. 

Y.B. (2008) Direct electrochemistry of laccase immobilized on au nanoparticles encapsulated-dendrimer bonded conducting polymer application for a catechin sensor. Analytical Chemistry, 80 (21), 8020-8027. 

Through a comprehensive review of the recent conductive polymer literature, it has been demonstrated that photoelectron spectroscopy provides a very unique and powerful tool for analyzing the intrinsic structure, the charge transfer interaction, and the stability and degradation behaviour of electroactive polymers. It is further demonstrated that photoelectron spectroscopy is also ideal for investigating the chemistry and electronic structure of the electroactive polymer interface with other polymers, semi-conductors, and metals. The surface and interfacial analytical capability of photoelectron spectroscopy can be further extended to include molecular specificity when coupled with the SIMS technique. Finally, the imaging XPS technique is fast becoming widely available [368]. 

Spectroelectrochemistry is one of the many facets of photoelectroanalytical chemistry. It can be used for numerous purposes in solving the mechanisms of electrochemical processes but especially with electrically conducting polymers it shows its main advantages. The original drive to study conductive polymers arose from the applications anticipated in the energy storage, but these polymers are also interesting from the analytical point of view as potential sensor materials. 

Various publications in recent years indicate organic conducting polymers as a convenient tool for the immobilisation of enzymes at the electrode surface and its interaction with metallic or carbon electrode surfaces. The application of conducting polymers in analytical chemistry has recently been reviewed [126-130]. Some other reviews have been devoted to their use in design of biosensors [131, 132]. 

Nagaoka, T, Z. Chen, and H. Nakao. 1999. Application of conducting polymers to analytical chemistry. Bunseki Kagaku 48 (3) 329. 

Evans GP (1990) The electrochemistry of conducting polymers. In Gerischer H, Tobias CW (eds) Advances in electrochemical science and engineering, vol 1. VCH, Weinheim, p 1 Eorster RJ, Vos JG (1992) Theory and analytical applications of modified electrodes. In Smyth M, Vos JG (eds) Comprehensive analytical chemistry, vol 27. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p465... 

These conceptual goals are attained by several combinatorial methods and tools. Characteristic for combinatorial chemistry is the synthesis on solid support or by polymer-supported synthesis, allowing for much higher efficiency in library production. Synthesis can be conducted either in automated parallel synthesis or by split-and-recombine synthesis. Centerpieces of combinatorial methods further include specific analytical methods for combinatorial... 

Ionic conductivity in polymer-based, water-containing, solid systems has been with us for a long time. A review of that history, which is intimately associated with the history of analytical electrochemistry and the physical chemistry of electrolyte solutions, will help to put the present work into perspective. 

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