Electrodes redox centres

Intensive research on the electrocatalytic properties of polymer-modified electrodes has been going on for many years Until recently, most known coatings were redox polymers. Combining redox polymers with conducting polymers should, in principle, further improve the electrocatalytic activity of such systems, as the conducting polymers are, in addition, electron carriers and reservoirs. One possibility of intercalating electroactive redox centres in the conducting polymer is to incorporate redoxactive anions — which act as dopants — into the polymer. Most research has been done on PPy, doped with inter alia Co 96) RyQ- 297) (--q. and Fe-phthalocyanines 298,299) Co-porphyrines Evidently, in these... 

A discussion of the charge transfer reaction on the polymer-modified electrode should consider not only the interaction of the mediator with the electrode and a solution species (as with chemically modified electrodes), but also the transport processes across the film. Let us assume that a solution species S reacts with the mediator Red/Ox couple as depicted in Fig. 5.32. Besides the simple charge transfer reaction with the mediator at the interface film/solution, we have also to include diffusion of species S in the polymer film (the diffusion coefficient DSp, which is usually much lower than in solution), and also charge propagation via immobilized redox centres in the film. This can formally be described by a diffusion coefficient Dp which is dependent on the concentration of the redox sites and their mutual distance (cf. Eq. (2.6.33). 

Figure 5a schematizes LAJs based on two Hg electrodes. By bringing in contact the two Hg-drops inside an electrolyte solution and connecting them to a macroscopic reference electrode by a potentiostat (Figs. 15a and 16a), an electrochemical junction is created this junction allows for independent control of the potentials applied to the two Hg electrodes, so that the cathode can act as electron donor (source) and the anode as electron acceptor (drain) with respect to the redox centre. 

Vinylferrocene (22) may be polymerized (Section 57.3.2.2.i) to give a polymer in which the iron(II/III) redox centres are pendant from a carbon backbone. Copolymers have also been formed with styrene61 and acrylonitrile.62 Another approach using a different polymer is illustrated by the covalent binding of poly(methacryl chloride) to Sn02 electrodes followed by attachment of pendant ferrocene centres by reaction of hydroxymethylferrocene.63... 

A further example of the use of this technique to introduce a ferrocene redox centre to a platinum surface is given in equation (32). A comparative survey was made of the rates of heterogeneous charge transfer between the platinum electrode and ferrocene both in solution and immobilized on the surface. Both processes show an Arrhenius temperature dependence but AGact(soIii) / A( ACT(surface bound). Absolute rate theory was unsatisfactory for the surface reaction and the need to involve electron tunnelling and a specific model for the conformation of the surface was indicated.66... 

The possibility of using surface modification of cheap metals to make them effective electrode materials has been mentioned (Section 57.3.2.3(1)). A further example employs cyanoferrates and cyanoruthenates as the redox centres.76 Complexes such as [M(CN)5L]" (M = Fe, Ru L = CN, H20, NO, L-histidine) may be immobilized on a partially corroded nickel surface. The surfaces have good stability and diffuse reflectance IR spectroscopy shows the presence of bridging cyano groups, implying the presence of a binuclear (Ni, M) species in the surface. A general equation for the redox reaction is ... 

The phenomenon of ligand bridging between redox centres in homogeneous electron transfer reactions is well established. It has now been shown that such ligands may adsorb on to the electrode surface and mediate electron transfer to or from the electrode from some oxidizable or reducible species in solution. 

Mediated Ehzyme Electrodes. Further improvements in the performance of immobilized enzyme sensors stem from the use of redox mediators which shuttle electrons from the redox centre of the enzyme to the surface of the indicator electrode according to the following reaction sequences depicted for glucose oxidase ... 

Characterization of modified electrodes can be carried out by electrochemical, spectroscopic, and microscopic methods. Of the electrochemical methods we stress cyclic voltammetry, chronocoulometry, and impedance, which combined together measure the number of redox centres, film conductivity, kinetics of the electrode processes, etc. Almost all the non-electrochemical techniques described in Chapter 12 have been employed for the characterization of modified electrodes. 

Gorton and coworkers have been particularly active in this field and produced an excellent review of the methods and approaches used for the successful chemical modification of electrodes for NADH oxidation [33]. They concentrated mainly on the adsorption onto electrode surfaces of mediators which are known to oxidise NADH in solution. The resulting systems were based on phenazines [34], phenoxazines [35, 36] and pheno-thiazines [32]. To date, this approach has produced some of the most successful electrodes for NADH oxidation. However, attempts to use similar mediators attached to poly(siloxane) films at electrode surfaces have proved less successful. Kinetic analysis of the results indicates that this is because of the slow charge transfer between the redox centres within the film so that the catalytic oxidation of NADH is restricted to a thin layer nearest the electrode surface [37, 38]. This illustrates the importance of a charge transfer between mediator groups in polymer modified electrodes. 

Flavocytochrome c3 (EC 1.3.99.1) isolated from Shewanella frigidimarina is a unique fumarate reductase of 63.8 kDa MW in a single subunit composed of two domains. The active site is located in the flavin domain. The heme domain contains four c-type hemes, each with a bis-His axial ligation. It has been proposed that this domain is similar to cytochrome c3 from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. On pyrolytic graphite (edge) electrodes in the presence of polymyxin the single redox centres were examined. Fumarate addition is followed by a catalytic current [108]. 

The transport of charge by electron hopping is an attractive model for these systems. In the case mentioned above, the electrode response is better from the precomplexed polymer film than from one prepared by first coating with PVP, then dipping into a solution containing a source of [Fe(CN)5(H20)] thus the spatial distribution of redox centres is important as well as their number in determining electrode response. Data for the pentacyanoferrate system support charge transport via adjacent redox sites and the rate of this transport falls off rapidly below a critical concentration of centres. ... 

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