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Electrochemical preparation and characterization of conducting copolymer/silica composite
Author(s) -
Chowdhury AlNakib,
Rahman Mohammad Rezaur,
Islam Dewan Sadequl,
Saleh Farhana Sultana
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.28506
Subject(s) - materials science , cyclic voltammetry , composite number , polyaniline , copolymer , chemical engineering , electrochemistry , electrode , saturated calomel electrode , polymer chemistry , composite material , working electrode , polymer , chemistry , polymerization , engineering
A composite based on organic copolymer and inorganic oxide, polyaniline/poly o ‐toluidine/silica (PANI/POT/SiO 2 ), has been synthesized successfully by a simple electrochemical method. The composite film was found to be deposited on a Pt substrate by sweeping the potential between −0.2 and +1.0 V versus a saturated calomel electrode with a scan rate of 100 mV/s. The polymeric composite film thus obtained was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, conductance measurement, and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Incorporation of silica in the copolymer results a clear difference in surface morphology compared with the bulk homo‐ and copolymers. Further evidence of silica in the composite was achieved by infrared spectral analysis. Indeed, a chemical analysis of the composite matrix showed a content of as high as 25% SiO 2 in the composite thus prepared. Based on the results of cyclic voltammetric analysis, the composite electrode as prepared was found to show good electrochemical stability even at high positive potentials. It also exhibited excellent electroactivity even after incorporation of silica in the matrix. The electroactive composite film was thus examined as electrode modifier to study the redox behavior of ferrous/ferric (Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ ) and hydroquinone/benzoquinone (H 2 Q/Q) couples. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008