Polymer-modified electrodes membrane material

The field of modified electrodes spans a wide area of novel and promising research. The work dted in this article covers fundamental experimental aspects of electrochemistry such as the rate of electron transfer reactions and charge propagation within threedimensional arrays of redox centers and the distances over which electrons can be transferred in outer sphere redox reactions. Questions of polymer chemistry such as the study of permeability of membranes and the diffusion of ions and neutrals in solvent swollen polymers are accessible by new experimental techniques. There is hope of new solutions of macroscopic as well as microscopic electrochemical phenomena the selective and kinetically facile production of substances at square meters of modified electrodes and the detection of trace levels of substances in wastes or in biological material. Technical applications of electronic devices based on molecular chemistry, even those that mimic biological systems of impulse transmission appear feasible and the construction of organic polymer batteries and color displays is close to industrial use. 

The new edition of Principles of Electrochemistry has been considerably extended by a number of new sections, particularly dealing with electrochemical material science (ion and electron conducting polymers, chemically modified electrodes), photoelectrochemistry, stochastic processes, new aspects of ion transfer across biological membranes, biosensors, etc. In view of this extension of the book we asked Dr Ladislav Kavan (the author of the section on non-electrochemical methods in the first edition) to contribute as a co-author discussing many of these topics. On the other hand it has been necessary to become less concerned with some of the classical topics the details of which are of limited importance for the reader. 

High temperatures are required to melt the crystalline domains in the high-EW samples and promote dissolution. Martin et have recently found that Nafions with EWs of 1100 and 1200 dissolve in both 50 50 propanol-water and 50 50 ethanol-water, at 250°C and elevated pressure, because the crystallites of the materials are eliminated. McCain and Covitch have also reported a similar dissolution technique. The ionic membrane was chemically converted into the nonionic precursor (sulfonyl fluoride) form prior to the dissolution process. Due to the nonionic nature of the precursor, it dissolves under relatively mild conditions. These dissolution techniques for Nafion polymers provide an important means for preparation of chemically modified electrodes and membranes of any desired geometry. ... 

Electrochemical sensor fabrication has dominated the analytical application of polymers. In some sensors the polymer film acts as a membrane for the preconcentration of ions or elements before electrochemical detection. Polymers also serve as materials for electrode modification that lower the potential for detecting analytes. In addition, some polymer films function as electrocatalytic surfaces. Using a polymer in biosensors is a very rapidly developing area of electroanalytical chemistry. Polymeric matrix modifiers have been applied as diffusional barriers in constructing not only sensitive amperometric biosensors, but also electrochemical sensors that apply potentiometric, conductimetric, optical, and gas-sensing transducer systems. The principles, operations, and application of potentiometric, conductimetric, optical and gas sensors are described in Refs. 13, 39-41. In this chapter, we focus mainly on amperometric biosensors based on redox enzymes. 

GC material was widely modified with conducting (or nonconducting) polymers in order to obtain an improved surface for DNA adsorption and detection. The initial approaches were performed by the physical attachment of nylon or nitrocellulose membranes on GC electrodes [51]. As explained, these membranes were extensively used in classical DNA analysis due to their well-known adsorption properties [33]. Other approaches were performed by the direct adsorption of the polymeric film on the GC surface. Finally, polymeric films were electrochemically grown on the GC substrate. These conducting polymers are particularly promising for the adsorption, but also for inducing electrical signals obtained from DNA interactions. 

Louis Hegedus Coming from the specialty chemicals applications, I would like to further emphasize what Sheldon Isakoff said. Take polyethylene, which our company uses extensively for a variety of applications. What do we do with it We fill it, modify it, functionalize it, formulate it, compound it, extrude it, laminate it, and end up with such vastly different products as battery separators, membranes, construction materials, insulation materials, battery electrodes, and microfilters. It is amazing what you can do with any given polymer. Much research emphasis today is on the properties of bulk polymers themselves. There is a whole science associated with com-... 

It is expected that the intermacromolecular complexes display entirely new physical and chemical characteristics different from those of the individual polymer components. So the following applications are, for example, considered membranes for dialysis, ultrafiltration, fuel cells and battery separators, wearing apparel, electrically conductive and antistatic coatings for textiles, medical and surgical prosthetic materials, environmental sensors or chemical detectors, and electrodes modified with specific polymers. 

The redox polymers, both of organic and inorganic origin (such as polyvinylpyridine modified by redox-active complexes of metals Prussian blue and related materials), can be considered as a version of electrodes of the second kind however, the equilibrium is usually estabhshed with respect to cations. Electron conducting polymers (polyanyline, polypyrrol, and so forth) also pertain, in the first approximation, to the electrodes of the second kind, which maintain equilibrium with respect to anion. Ion exchange polymer films on electrode surfaces form a subgroup of membrane electrodes. 

Solid electrodes covered by membranes or modified with polymers, gels and various composite materials cannot be treated by polishing. The only way to make them work reproducibly is to apply an appropriate conditioning potential (or a sequence of potentials) before the voltammetric experiments. 

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