Preparation of a phosphopolyoxomolybdate P2Mo18O626- doped polypyrrole modified electrode and its catalytic properties

A phosphopolyoxomolybdate (P2Mo18) doped polypyrrole (PPy) modified electrode was prepared in aqueous solution by a one-step method. During the polymerization of PPy, P2Mo18 acted as both catalyst and dopant. The electrochemical behavior of the PPy/P2Mo18 modified electrode before and after the overoxidation of PPy was investigated. Both of these showed a catalytic effect toward bromate. The PPy/P2Mo18 composite film was characterized by chronoamperometry, cyclic voltammetry, the rotating disk electrode technique, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

A method for cathodic polymerization of aniline by in situ electrogenerated intermediate at gold surface

Polyaniline (PANI) was cathodically synthesized at an evaporated gold electrode using an in situ electrogenerated intermediate as oxidant during reduction of the dissolved oxygen. The obtained PANI layer showed an electrochemical response similar to that synthesized by the conventionally anodic polymerization, and the average rate for the growth of PANI layer at polycrystalline gold electrode was 1.59 nm h(-1), while that at the Au (111) electrode was 4.93 nm h(-1). Based on these results, the thickness of the resulted layer can be easily controlled at molecular level for potential nanodevice applications. The obtained PANI layer showed morphology from an island-like nanostructure to an ultrathin film, depending on the crystal orientation of the electrode used.

Mercaptoethane sulfonate protected, water-soluble gold and silver nanoparticles: Syntheses, characterization and their building, multilayer films with polyaniline via ion-dipole interactions

Mercaptoethane sulfonate protected, water-soluble gold and silver nanoparticles (Au-MES and Ag-MES) are synthesized by one-phase method and characterized by TEM, TGA and XPS techniques, UV-vis and FTIR spectra. Both Au-MES and Ag-MES nanoparticles are soluble in the water up to 2.0 mg/ml and the stability of AU-MES is much better than that of Ag-MES. When dissolved in the water. they behave like a polyanion and can be used to build multilayer films with polyaniline (PANI) by way of layer-by-layer. A new approach is presented to fabricate the Multilayer films of Au-MES/PANI and Ag-MES/PAN]. The assembly mechanism of these multilayer films is also discussed. We anticipate highly conducting PANI films can be obtained by doping with these nanoparticles.

Electrochemical growth and characterization of polyoxometalate-containing monolayers and multilayers on alkanethiol monolayers self-assembled on gold electrodes

A general strategy has been developed for fabrication of ultrathin monolayer and multilayer composite films composed of nearly all kinds of polyoxometalates (POMs), including isopolyanions (IPAs), and heteropolyanions (HPAs). It involves stepwise adsorption between the anionic POMs and a cationic polymer on alkanethiol (cysteamine and 3-mercaptopropionic acid) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) based on electrostatic interaction. Here a Keggin-type HPA SiMo11VO405- was chosen as a main representative to elucidate, in detail, the fabrication and characterization of the as-prepared composite films. A novel electrochemical growth method we developed for film formation involves cyclic potential sweeps over a suitable potential range in modifier solutions. It was comparatively studied with a commonly used method of immersion growth, i.e., alternately dipping a substrate into modifier solutions. Growth processes and structural characteristics of the composite films are characterized in detail by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis spectroscopy (UV-vis), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), micro-Fourier transform infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (FTIR-RA), and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The electrochemical growth is proven to be more advantageous than the immersion growth. The composite films exhibit well-defined surface waves characteristic of the HPAs' redox reactions. In addition, the composite films by the electrochemical growth show a uniform structure and an excellent stability. Ion motions accompanying the redox processes of SiMo11VO405- in multilayer films are examined by in situ time-resolved EQCM and some results are first reported. The strategy used here has been successfully popularized to IPAs as well as other HPAs no matter what structure and composition they have.

The electrochemical behavior of polypyrrole from self-assembly polymerization

The electrochemical behavior and the charge transport of polypyrrole film prepared by self-assembly polymerization have been investigated. Ir is found that the microstructure of the film influences the electrochemical behavior of polypyrrole, and that the p-toluenesulfate (Tos(-)) ion plays avery important role in this system.

Electropolymeric generation of optically active polypyrrole

The facile synthesis of optically active polypyrrole has been achieved via the enantioselective electropolymerization of pyrrole on indium-tin-oxide-coated glass electrodes in aqueous solution containing D-(+) or L-(-) tartaric acid, (1S)-(+)-10-camphorsulfonic acid and L-lactic acid. The dark films of conducting polypyrroles salt formed under electrostatic conditions (+0.65V vs. Ag/AgCl) exhibited strong circular dichroism (CD) spectra typical of polymers possessing helical chirality. The quantitative reversal of the CD spectrum of the salt grown in (+)-tartaric acid as opposed to (-)-tartaric acid suggests that electropolymerization is highly enantioselective, with one helical screw of the polymer chain being preferentially produced depending on the hand of the tartaric anion incorporated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol on polypyrrole film modified with platinum microparticles

The electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol on polypyrrole (PPy) film modified with platinum microparticles has been studied by means of electrochemical and in situ Fourier transform infrared techniques. The Pt microparticles, which were incorporated in the PPy film by the technique of cyclic voltammetry, were uniformly dispersed. The modified electrode exhibits significant electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of methanol. The catalytic activities were found to be dependent on Pt loading and the thickness of the PPy film. The linearly adsorbed CO species is the only intermediate of electrochemical oxidation of methanol and can be readily oxidized at the modified electrodes. The enhanced electrocatalytic activities may be due to the uniform dispersion of Pt microparticles in the PPy film and the synergistic effects of the highly dispersed Pt microparticles and the PPy film. Finally, a reaction mechanism is suggested.

IN-SITU AFM STUDY OF THE SURFACE-MORPHOLOGY OF POLYPYRROLE FILM

In this paper we focus on the surface morphology of polypyrrole film by using in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). The formation process of polypyrrole film and the transformation process of the film from the oxidized to reduced state were clearly observed.

PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ISOPOLYMOLYBDIC ANIONS DOPED POLYPYRROLE (IPOMO/PPY) FILM ELECTRODE

Isopolymolybdic anion doped polypyrrole film electrode was prepared by electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole in 0.5 mol.L-1 H2SO4 aqueous solution containing isopolymolybdic anions. The film thus prepared has good stability upon potential cycling in s

STUDY OF A 1/12 PHOSPHOMOLYBDIC ANION DOPED POLYPYRROLE FILM ELECTRODE AND ITS CATALYSIS

A phosphomolybdic anion doped polypyrrole (PMo12O403- + PPy) film electrode has been prepared by electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole in an aqueous solution of 0.5 mol l-1 H2SO4 or 0.5 mol l-1 KNO3 containing PMo12O403- anions, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and in-situ UV-visible spectroelectrochemical methods. The film electrode obtained is very stable upon potential cycling in acidic solution, but not in neutral solution. The catalytic effect of the film electrode on the reduction of ClO3- and BrO3- was studied.

THE PREPARATION OF ELECTRODES MODIFIED WITH ISOPOLYMOLYBDIC ACID PLUS POLYANILINE FILM AND ITS CATALYTIC EFFECTS ON CHLORATE IONS

Electrodes modified with isopolymolybdic acid+polyaniline film, which exhibit high stability and activity in aqueous acidic solution, have been prepared successfully using two methods: one-step synthesis by electrochemical polymerization at a constant applied potential of +0.80 V/SCE or by cycling the potential at 100 mV/s between -0.12 and +0.85 V in 0.5 M H2SO4 containing 5.0x10(-2) M aniline and 5.0x10(-3) M H4Mo8O26, or two-step synthesis by doping the polyaniline film electrode with isopoly acid (IPA) under a cycling potential between -0.20 and +0.40 V in 0.5 M H2SO4 containing the H4Mo8O26 dopant. The thickness of the film and the amount of dopant in the polyaniline film can be controlled by experimental parameters such as the charge, time and the ratio of aniline to IPA in the solution. The experimental results show that electrodes modified with isopolymolybdic acid+polyaniline film using both methods have a strong catalytic effect on the reduction of chlorate anions. Comparison of the two methods of modification shows that the catalytic effect at the modified electrode prepared by the two-step method is greater than that at the electrode prepared by the one-step method.

MOLECULAR CHAIN STRUCTURE OF DOPED POLYANILINE

The chain structure of polyaniline doped with HCl or CF_3COOH has been investigated by FTIR, solid state ~(13)CNMR, resonance laser Raman and UV-VIS spectroscopies. The results show that during the protonic acid doping, a partial redox reaction takes place between the quinone-diimine and benzene-diamine units and it leads to a long conjugate system with a certain charge distribution.

A new route to synthesize high degree polythiophene in a room temperature melt medium

Conducting polymers suffer from folds and kinks because of random nucleation and solvation of a free radical cation to yield a cross linked/disordered polymer and therefore a solvent free electrochemical polymerization in a room temperature melt medium is adopted to yield a high degree polymer with high electronic conductivity. Electropolymerization of thiophene was performed on platinum/ITO substrates using cyclic voltametry or galvenostatic mode in chloroaluminate room temperature melt medium to obtain a reddish brown free standing film which can be peeled off from the electrode surface after a minimum of 10 cycles. The conductivity was found to be around 102 S/cm. The degree of polymerization was calculated to be around 44 from IR studies. A layered structure supportive for high degree of polymerization was witnessed from potential step technique. From UV spectra the charge carriers were found to be bipolarons. The morphology of the film was found to be crystalline from SEM and XRD studies. Capacitative impedance properties for doped samples were interpreted from impedance spectroscopy.

Spontaneous spin polarization and electron localization in constrained geometries: The Wigner transition in nanowires

The Wigner transition in a jellium model of cylindrical nanowires has been investigated by density-functional computations using the local spin-density approximation. A wide range of background densities rho(b) has been explored from the nearly ideal metallic regime (r(s)=[3/4 pi rho(b)](1/3)=1) to the high correlation limit (r(s)=100). Computations have been performed using an unconstrained plane wave expansion for the Kohn-Sham orbitals and a large simulation cell with up to 480 electrons. The electron and spin distributions retain the cylindrical symmetry of the Hamiltonian at high density, while electron localization and spin polarization arise nearly simultaneously in low-density wires (r(s)similar to 30). At sufficiently low density (r(s)>= 40), the ground-state electron distribution is the superposition of well defined and nearly disjoint droplets, whose charge and spin densities integrate almost exactly to one electron and 1/2 mu(B), respectively. Droplets are arranged on radial shells and define a distorted lattice whose structure is intermediate between bcc and fcc. Dislocations and grain boundaries are apparent in the droplets' configuration found by our simulations. Our computations aim at modeling the behavior of experimental low-carried density systems made of lightly doped semiconductor nanostructures or conducting polymers.

A multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree-Fock method for excited electronic states. II. Coulomb interaction effects in single conjugated polymer chains

Conjugated polymers have attracted considerable attention in the last few decades due to their potential for optoelectronic applications. A key step that needs optimisation is charge carrier separation following photoexcitation. To understand better the dynamics of the exciton prior to charge separation, we have performed simulations of the formation and dynamics of localised excitations in single conjugated polymer strands. We use a nonadiabatic molecular dynamics method which allows for the coupled evolution of the nuclear degrees of freedom and of multiconfigurational electronic wavefunctions. We show the relaxation of electron-hole pairs to form excitons and oppositely charged polaron pairs and discuss the modifications to the relaxation process predicted by the inclusion of the Coulomb interaction between the carriers. The issue of charge photogeneration in conjugated polymers in dilute solution is also addressed. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3600404]