Step-growth polymers electrochemistry

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. 

Some works have been recently published on several monomers using various techniques especially EQCM [152], AFM [153], and ellipsometry [154] have been used in parallel to electrochemistry [155-157] to analyze the growth of the polymer, but always without focusing on the first steps. In another approach, polymeric additives have been used in the polymerization feed to act as templates for the formation of the conducting polymer. A remarkable recent work shows that PPy nanotubes can be directly prepared from a polymer blend solution, without an external porous membrane (or clay) as formerly classically prepared [158]. 

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