Electropolymerization of Conducting Polymers

The electrochemical oxidation of monomers such as pyrrole,2-5 thiophene,6-9 aniline,10-13 etc., or their derivatives, initiates a polymerization process at the electrode/electrolyte interface that promotes the formation of a polymeric film that adheres to the electrode. A similar homogeneous polymerization process can be initiated by chemical oxidation or chemical polymerization.14-21 Some monomers can be polymerized as well by electrochemical or chemical reduction. 

Empirical Kinetics of Initiation and Polymerization from Tafel 

The Tafel slopes obtained under concentrations of the chemical components that we suspect act on the initiation reaction (monomer, electrolyte, water contaminant, temperature, etc.) and that correspond to the direct discharge of the monomer on the clean electrode, allow us to obtain knowledge of the empirical kinetics of initiation and nucleation.22-36 These empirical kinetics of initiation were usually interpreted as polymerization kinetics. Monomeric oxidation generates radical cations, which by a polycondensation mechanism give the ideal linear chains  

If we want to use the Tafel slopes to obtain the empirical kinetics of polymerization, we have to use a metallic electrode coated with a previously electrogenerated thin and uniform film of the polymer in a fresh solution of the monomer. In some cases experimental Tafel plots present the two components (Fig. 4) before and after coating. 

Both initiation and polymerization kinetics obtained from Tafel slopes (Fig. 5) are related to the formation of very thin films, which are not useful for most applications of conducting polymers. A similar restriction can be attributed to the combination of electrochemical and gravimet- 

---

The final conclusion from the different kinetic studies that simultaneously followed productivity, consumed current, storage capacity of the obtained films, and the current efficiency in generating electroactive polymer in the final film is that any electropolymerization of conducting polymers occurs together a partial degradation of the electroactive polymer. The final film is a mixed material. From the kinetic studies we know the variables that increase or deplete the degradation reaction in relation to the polymerization reaction. 

Meanwhile, the R-R coupling (see Sect. 2.2) has evidently found general acceptance as the main reaction path for the electropolymerization of conducting polymers The ionic character of the coupling species explains why polar additives such as anions or solvents with high permittivity accelerate the rate of polymerization and function as catalysts. Thus, electropolymerization of pyrrole is catalyzed in CHjCN by bromide ions or in aqueous solution by 4,5-dihydro-1,3-benzenedisulfonic acid The electrocatalytic influence of water has been known since the work... 

Figure 4. Electropolymerization of conducting polymer in a nanoporous membrane.

One successful strategy to improve ET rates between enzyme and electrode is the modification of conducting polymers with redox mediators in order to obtain reagentless biosensors [11, 270, 271, 292-299]. The drawback of electropolymerization of conducting polymers is that the reaction is sensitive to oxygen, which complicates fabrication at the industrial scale. 

Electropolymerization of conducting polymers differs markedly from other polymerization reactions. In the normal electrochemically induced polymerization reactions, the electrode catalytically triggers chain growth and, consequently, the process requires htde electricity [18]. By contrast, the anodic oxidation leading... 

Among the various methods employed for the biofunctionalization of electrodes, the electropolymerization of conducting polymers emerged three decades ago to be an essential and particular efficient way of making... 

Bipolar electrochemistry requires a medium of sufficiently low conductivity to avoid excessive parasitic current leakage at the feeder electrodes. In this regard the bipolar electropolymerization of conductive polymers appears to be an attractive additional method to create interconnects between isolated metal components because the neutral monomer does not significantly contribute to conductivity and can thus be introduced in relatively high concentrations. Furthermore, as opposed to the examples of SCBE described above using copper structures, it is not necessary for the metal component to electrodissolve to create an interconnect. 

Fig. 5 A typical three-electrode electrochemical cell for electropolymerization of conducting polymers on microelectrodes. A magnetic stirrer is used for solution agitation while water bath is used to control temperature of a water-jacketed glass cell. A potentiostat is used to control current or voltage for electrochemical polymerizations and measurements...

Galvanostatic, potentiostatic as well as potentiodynamic techniques can be used to electropolymerize suitable monomeric species and form the corresponding film on the electrode. Provided that the maximum formation potentials for all three techniques are the same, the resulting porperties of the films will be broadly similar. The potentiodynamic experiment in particular provides useful information on the growth rate of conducting polymers. The increase in current with each cycle of a multisweep CV is a direct measure of the increase in the surface of the redoxactive polymer and, hence, a suitable measure of relative growth rates (Fig. 5). 

Chain length is another factor closely related to the structural characterization of conducting polymers. The importance of this parameter lies in its considerable influence on the electric as well as the electrochemical properties of conducting polymers. However, the molecular weight techniques normally used in polymer chemistry cannot be employed on account of the extreme insolubility of the materials. A comparison between spectroscopic findings (XPS, UPS, EES) for PPy and model calculations has led some researchers to conclude that 10 is the minimum number of monomeric units in a PPy chain, with the maximum within one order of magnitude n9- 27,i28) mechanical qualities of the electropolymerized films,... 

Electrochemistry is one of the most promising areas in the research of conducting polymers. Thus, the method of choice for preparing conducting polymers, with the exception of PA, is the anodic oxidation of suitable monomeric species such as pyrrole [3], thiophene [4], or aniline [5]. Several aspects of electrosynthesis are of relevance for electrochemists. First, there is the deposition process of the polymers at the electrode surface, which involves nucleation-and-growth steps [6]. Second, to analyze these phenomena correctly, one has to know the mechanism of electropolymerization [7, 8]. And thirdly, there is the problem of the optimization of the mechanical, electrical, and optical material properties produced by the special parameters of electropolymerization. 

Through the combination of SPR with a - poten-tiostat, SPR can be measured in-situ during an electrochemical experiment (electrochemical surface plasmon resonace, ESPR). Respective setups are nowadays commercially available. Voltammetric methods, coupled to SPR, are advantageously utilized for investigations of - conducting polymers, thin film formation under influence of electric fields or potential variation, as well as - electropolymerization, or for development of -> biosensors and - modified electrodes. Further in-situ techniques, successfully used with SPR, include electrochemical - impedance measurements and -+ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance. 

Oxide, flouride, and polymeric films, as well as certain others, are used as protective coatings for HTSC materials (for example, see [505]). The electrodeposition of conducting polymers such as polypyrrole [433,491, 493, 506], polythiophene and its derivatives [493, 507], and polyaniline [478] is the most effective process. Anodic electropolymerization in acetonitrile solutions proceeds without any degradation of the HTSC substrate and ensures continuous and uniform coatings. Apparently, this method is promising not only for the fabrication of compositions with special properties based on HTSC [50, 28,295] as mentioned above, but also for the creation of junctions with special characteristics [507]. 

B. Solid-state electropolymerization Structure of Conducting Polymers... 

Electropolymerization with formation of conducting polymers 86CJC76. gem-Dithienylalkanes, general review 82AHC(32)83. 

---