Colloid chemical approach to nanoelectrode ensembles with highly controllable active area fraction

A novel "bottom-up" approach to highly controllable nanoelectrode ensembles (NEEs) has been developed using colloidal nanoparticle self-assembly techniques. Ibis solution-based strategy allows flexible control over nanoelectrode size, shape, and interspacing of the as-prepared NEEs. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was proved to be a powerful tool to monitor the NEE topography, which yields parameters that can be used to calculate the fractional nanoelectrode area of the NEEs. AFM, ac impedance, and cyclic voltammetry studies demonstrate that most of nanoelectrodes on the NEEs (at least by 9-min self-assembly) are not diffusionally isolated under conventional ac frequency range and scan rates. As a result, the NEEs behave as "nanoelectrode-patch" assemblies. Besides, the as-prepared NEEs by different self-assembling times show an adjustable sensitivity to heterogeneous electron-transfer kinetics, which may be helpful to sensor applications. Like these NEEs constructed by other techniques, the present NEEs prepared by chemical self-assembly also exhibit the enhancement of electroanalytical detection limit consistent with NEE theory prediction.

Carbon ceramic electrodes bulk-modified with nanoparticles of ferrocenebutyrate-intercalated Mg-Al layered double hydroxide

Ferrocenebutyrate-intercalated layered double hydroxide (FcLDH) was prepared by the coprecipitation method and characterized by PXRD, FTIR, TEM and elemental analysis. FcLDH nanoparticles in deionized water were deposited onto the surface of graphite powder to yield graphite powder-supported FcLDH, which was subsequently dispersed into methyltrimethoxysilane-derived gels to fabricate surface-renewable, stable, rigid carbon ceramic electrodes containing the electroactive ferrocenyl group. Cyclic voltammetric study revealed that peak currents of the FcLDH-modified electrode were diffusion-con trolled in 0.1 mol l(-1) KCl aqueous solution. In addition, the formal potential of the modified electrode is related to the activity of chloride ion with a Nernst slope of 56 mV per decade.

A study of tetraethylammonium ion transfer across a micro liquid/liquid interface

Tetraethylammonium (TEA(+)) ion transfer across micro-liquid/liquid interface has been studied with cyclic voltammetric measurements. The results showed that voltammetric responses of the currents obtained were peak and steady-state for TEA(+) transfer from inside and outside of the micropipette when the radius was bigger than 3 mum. However, the currents were pseudo-steady-state when the micropipette diameters were less than 3 mum. The values of i(p) decreased with decreasing concentration of TEA(+). Peak current was proportional to the square root of the scan rate and it obeyed a Randles-Sevcik type relationship. The mechanism of mass transport across a liquid/ liquid microinterface for TEA(+) system was aslo discussed.

In-situ microscopic FTIR spectroelectrochemistry of ascorbic acid in poly(ethylene glycol)/LiClO4 electrolyte paste and in the presence of dispersed cobalt hexacyanoferrate microcrystalline powder

In-situ microscopic FTIR spectroelectrochemical technique(MFTIRs) was applied to studying the electrochemical oxidation of ascorbic acid(AA) in poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG) paste at a 100 mu m diameter Pt disk electrode. Using this technique, the catalytic ability of cobalt hexacyanoferrate(CoHCF) microcrystalline toward AA oxidation was also studied, it was found that the dispersed CoHCF powder in the PEG paste can generate well-shaped thin-layer cyclic voltammetric waves with the peak height proportional to the scan rate, corresponding to the Fe centered redox reactions. This oxidation step catalyzed the AA oxidation. Also, this pasted CoHCF powder generated well-resolved in-situ MFTIRs spectra, by which a chemical interaction between C = C bond of AA ring and CoHCF lattice was revealed. A corresponding surface docking mechanism for the catalytic reaction has been proposed.

A study of dimethylferrocene diffusion and electrode kinetics using microelectrode voltammetry in poly(ethylene glycol) solvent

The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (k(s)) of dimethylferrocene (DMFc) was estimated using cyclic voltammetric peak potential separations taken typically in a mixed diffusion geometry regime in a polyelectrolyte, and the diffusion coefficient (D) of DMFc was obtained using a steady-state voltammogram. The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant and diffusion coefficient are both smaller by about 100-fold in the polymeric solvent than in the monomeric solvent. The results are in agreement with the difference of longitudinal dielectric relaxation time (tau(L)) in the two kinds of solvents, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and CH3CN, indicating that k(s) varies inversely with tau(L); k(s), is proportional to D of DMFc. Both D and k(s) of DMFc in PEG containing different supporting electrolytes and at different temperatures have been estimated. These results show that D and k(s) of DMFc increase with increasing temperature in the polyelectrolyte, whereas they vary only slightly with changing the supporting electrolyte.

In-situ microscopic FTIR spectroelectrochemical study of the reduction of K3Fe(CN)(6) in polymer electrolyte

Cyclic voltammetry and in-situ microscopic FTIR spectroelectrochemistry were used for the electrochemical and vibrational characterizations of the reduction process of K3Fe (CN)(6) in polyethylene glycol(PEG) with LiClO4 as supporting electrolyte at a Pt microelectrode. The rate of electron transfer is a function of the concentration of the supporting electrolyte. The redox potentials and cyclic voltammetric currents vary with Li/O molar ratio. The bl-situ spectroelectrochemistry shows that the infrared spectra are influenced by the concentration of LiClO4. The bridging cyanide groups with a structure Fe-I-C drop N ... Fe-I-C drop N are formed during the reduction process of K3Fe (CN)(6). There may be an activated complex between the Lif cation and the complex anion.

Electrochemical Study of the Self-exchange between Viologen-thiol Self assembled Monolayers and Alkanethiol Gold Electrodes

The preparation and cyclic voltammetric behaviors of self assembled monolayers (SAMs) containing electroactive viologen group have been investigated. Treatment of this viologen SAM with solutions of alkanethiols remits in replacing the electroactive third, shifting negatively its formal potentials and decreasing its heterogeneous elixtron transfer constants along with the immersion time. The aim of the work is to understand the exchange regularity of the mixed SANK on gold electrode surface.

Phenol hydroxylation by iron(II) phenanthroline: The reaction mechanism

Phenol hydroxylation catalyzed by iron(II)-1,10-phenanthroline is investigated through kinetics, ESR, W-Vis as well as cyclic voltammogram studies. The optimum reaction conditions are obtained for diphenols production. Radical substitution mechanism is first proposed to explain the effects of pH, reaction medium and other factors on the phenol hydroxylation with H2O2 as oxidant, and found that the coexisting of iron(II)-1,10-phenanthroline and iron(III)-1,10-phenanthroline is the key for phenol hydroxylation to occur with H2O2 as oxygen donor.

Research on modified electrode of conducting polymer .2. Characteristics of polypyrrole film doped with heteropolyanions

Polypyrrole film electrode with Co(W2O7)(6)(10-) and CuW12O406- ions were synthesised in aqueous solutions, The electrode possesses a good stability and cyclic voltammetric behavior in weakly acidic or near neutral solutions, The redox of CuW12O406- ion can be catalysed by the polypyrrole film, The ESR measurement of the polypyrrole film with Co(W2O7)(6)(10-) and CuW12O406- ions indicates that the heteropolyanions not only play the role of neutralizing electricity in the polypyrrole film, contrasted with the film containing NO3-, but also Interact with the polypyrrole molecular chain to form some additive compound, The additive compound affects the electric structure elf the polypyrrole film and is unstable at more positive or more negative potentials.

Electrochemical preparation of microelectrodes modified with non-stoichiometric mixed-valent molybdenum oxides

A compact non-stoichiometric molybdenum (VI, V) oxide of blue film was grown on carbon fiber (CF) microelectrode surface be cycling the potential between + 0.2V and - 0.70V in a freshly prepared Na2MoO4 solution containing 5 x 10(-3) mol/L H2SO4. The quantity-of the oxide is controlled by the charge passing the electrode. The electrochemical pretreatment of CF microelectrode not only mises the deposition velocity of molybdenum oxide on CF surface, but also improves greatly the cyclic voltammetric behavior of the molybdenum oxide film prior to the electrodeposition. The cathodic processes are believed to yield the hydrogen molybdenum oxide bronzes HxMoO3(0 < x < 2), or substoichiometric lower molybdenum oxides with the formula MoO3-y(0 < y < 1). The anodic response results from the reversible oxidation of molybdenum bronze/Mo(V) centers [or perhaps Mo(IV) in more reduced coatings], to Mo(VI). Further information was gained about the chemical composition and valent state of Mo from XPS and SEM.

STUDY ON ELECTROCATALYTIC OXIDATION OF NADH BY FERROCENE DERIVATIVES AND DETERMINATION OF CATALYTIC RATE-CONSTANT AT MICRODISK ELECTRODE

The electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH by ferrocene derivatives and the influence of complexation with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) were investigated at a microdisk electrode in a buffer solution. The cyclic voltammetric behavior of the ferrocene derivatives on the microdisk electrode was used to determine the electron-transfer rate constant from NADH to the ferricinium species. The heterogeneous rate constants and the diffusion coefficient of ferrocene derivatives were determined with the microdisk electrode. The effect of temperature and pH on the electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH were assessed.

INFLUENCE ON THE THIN-LAYER SPECTROELECTROCHEMISTRY - DIFFUSION WITHIN A THIN-LAYER CELL

The potential step and cyclic voltammetric experiments in the thin layer cell were studied by the digital simulation method in this work. A relationship between the time needed for exhaustive electrolysis of the electroactive species and the thickness of the thin layer cell was obtained. On the basis of this formula, the lower time limit for a kinetic plot of the following chemical reaction can be estimated. For the cyclic voltammetry, a semiempirical formula was derived for the peak-peak potential difference (Delta Ep) in terms of the sweep rate (v), thickness of the cell (d), diffusion coefficient (D) and electron transfer number (n) 59 - n Delta Ep/n Delta Ep = 0.328(RT D/nF vd(2))(1.20).

ELECTRODEPOSITION OF PLATINUM PARTICLES ON GLASSY-CARBON MODIFIED WITH COBALT PORPHYRIN AND NAFION FILM AND THEIR ELECTROCATALYTIC REDUCTION OF DIOXYGEN

In this paper, five types of chemically modified electrode (CMEs) prepared with the deposition of platinum particles on various surfaces of glassy carbon (GC) modified with cobalt porphyrin and Nafion(R) solution are characterized using the electron scanning microscope (SEM). Their activities in the four-electron reduction of dioxygen to water on the basis of their electrochemical data from cyclic voltammetric and rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) experiments are examined and compared. Platinum particles dispersed on the GC surface adsorbed with the cobalt porphyrin exhibit the highest activity for the electrocatalytic reduction of dioxygen. However it is interesting that the cobalt ion is lost from the center of the porphyrin ring during the preparation of the cobalt porphyrin + Nafion mixture solution, while the porphyrin ring still remains in the Nafion film, as shown by EDX analysis. The incorporation of the porphyrin may change the structure of the Nafion film into a looser form, since the platinum particles dispersed in the film are more readily exposed, resulting in more favourable mass transfer and higher activity for the electrocatalytic reduction of dioxygen.