Metallized-plastic film electrodes

This ability of the GaPc-Cl modified electrodes to photo-enhance both the oxidation and reduction redox processes has been further explored using gold, metallized plastic films (Au-MPOTE, Sierracin Corporation) modified with 10-100 molecular layer thicknesses of this phthalocyanine. Figure 3 shows the light and dark i/V behavior of such an electrode modified with a non-porous film of GaPc-Cl. The dark i/V behavior of an unmodified gold electrode in the same solution is shown for comparison. 

A typical lithium-ion cell consists of a positive electrode composed of a thin layer of powdered metal oxide (e.g., LiCo02) mounted on aluminum foil and a negative electrode formed from a thin layer of powdered graphite, or certain other carbons, mounted on a copper foil. The two electrodes are separated by a porous plastic film soaked typically in LiPFe dissolved in a mixture of organic solvents such as ethylene carbonate (EC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), or diethyl carbonate (DEC). In the charge/ discharge process, lithium ions are inserted or extracted from the interstitial space between atomic layers within the active materials. 

Applications for nanocomposites include thin-film capacitors for computer chips. Thin film capacitors are electrical capacitors with an insulating film as the dielectric, combined with paper as carrier of the electrodes. The dielectric thin films are provided with electrodes. The electrodes of film capacitors may be metalized with aluminium or zinc applied directly to the surface of the plastic film. Two of these conductive layers are wound into a cylinder-shaped winding, layered as multiple single layers stacked together, to form a capacitor body. Film capacitor has very low ohmic losses and a very low parasitic inductance, which makes it suitable for AC power applications. 

Figure 9. Procedure for the preparation of the test electrode for aqueous electrolytes (9 mol L 1 KOH or ZnCl2 solution). (1) the sample is mixed by shaking in a plastic container 20 mm (diam.) x 40 mm (height) (2) the mixture is made into a thin film by grinding with a pestle in a ceramic mortar (3) the metal screen is prepared (4) the three layers (A, B, C) are pressed between the steel blocks.

In a typical spectroelectrochemical measurement, an optically transparent electrode (OTE) is used and the UV/vis absorption spectrum (or absorbance) of the substance participating in the reaction is measured. Various types of OTE exist, for example (i) a plate (glass, quartz or plastic) coated either with an optically transparent vapor-deposited metal (Pt or Au) film or with an optically transparent conductive tin oxide film (Fig. 5.26), and (ii) a fine micromesh (40-800 wires/cm) of electrically conductive material (Pt or Au). The electrochemical cell may be either a thin-layer cell with a solution-layer thickness of less than 0.2 mm (Fig. 9.2(a)) or a cell with a solution layer of conventional thickness ( 1 cm, Fig. 9.2(b)). The advantage of the thin-layer cell is that the electrolysis is complete within a short time ( 30 s). On the other hand, the cell with conventional solution thickness has the advantage that mass transport in the solution near the electrode surface can be treated mathematically by the theory of semi-infinite linear diffusion. 

It is interesting to conclude this section with an example that, in a sense, brings the chapter full circle. The metallization of plastic materials used as metal substitutes is a process with actual and future commercial potential. Usually, plastics are plated after appropriate sensitization by an electroless process which involves reduction of metal ions (e.g. Ni2+, Cu2+) by chemical rather than electrical means.19 There seems no reason why the reducing agent should not be incorporated in the polymer and Murray and his collaborators101 have demonstrated that copper, silver, cobalt and nickel may each be electrodeposited on to films of [poly-Ru(bipy)2(4-vinylpyridine)2]2+ coated on to platinum electrodes. The metal reductions are mediated by the Ru1 and Ru° states of the polymer. 

Vinyls with low plasticizer contents also can be welded, but normally pre-heated electrodes and electrodes equipped to stabilize temperature are necessary. Similar vinyl materials can be welded, or rigid and flexible. Problems may be experienced with printed, lacquered, or metallized surfaces, just as with the flexible films. Flock-coated items can be welded, but not (of course) flock face to flock face. 

Optically transparent electrode — (OTE), the electrode that is transparent to UV-visible light. Such an electrode is very useful to couple electrochemical and spectroscopic characterization of systems (- spectroelectro-chemistry). Usually the electrodes feature thin films of metals (Au, Pt) or semiconductors (In203, SnCb) deposited on transparent substrate (glass, quartz, plastic). Alternatively, they are in a form of fine wire mesh minigrids. OTE are usually used to obtain dependencies of spectra (or absorbance at given wavelengths) on applied potentials. When the -> diffusion layer is limited to a thin layer (i.e., by placing another, properly spaced, transparent substrate parallel to the OTE), bulk electrolysis can be completed in a few seconds and, for -> reversible or - quasireversible systems, equilibrium is reached for the whole solution with the electrode potential. Such OTEs are called optically transparent thin-layer electrodes or OTTLE s. 

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