Mechanistic Diagnosis for Redox Switching of Electroactive Films

斯坦利·布鲁肯斯坦是纽约州立大学水牛城分校的化学教授，他得到了分析和表面化学计划对电活性聚合物薄膜的理论和实验研究的续期资助。电化学石英晶体微天平(EQCM)实验和动态阻抗测量将与基于立方体方案的理论考虑相结合，立方体方案将产生聚合物膜中氧化还原切换过程中发生的基本动力学步骤的速率。该方法将允许识别和分离涉及反离子转移、共离子转移、中性物种转移和聚合物构型变化的过程。聚乙烯基二茂铁是要研究的氧化还原聚合物之一，聚吡咯是要使用的导电聚合物之一。这些研究将在不同类别的聚合物内部和之间产生结构-功能相关性。这种关系允许为特定目的合理地设计聚合物。对电活性聚合物的性质和过程的基本了解仍然是这些材料研究的主要目标，因为它们在电池和膜等技术领域具有重要意义。这项研究提供了一个理论框架，在此基础上设计实验来检验这些过程。从实验中获得的信息将使聚合物的技术开发达到明确的目的。

Stanley Bruckenstein, professor of chemistry at SUNY-Buffalo, is supported by this renewal grant from the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program for theoretical and experimental studies of electroactive polymer thin-films. Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) experiments and dynamic impedance measurements will be used in conjunction with theoretical considerations based on a scheme of cubes which will yield the rates of the elementary kinetic steps that occur during a redox switching process in the polymer films. The approach will permit the identification and separation of processes involving counterion transfer, co-ion transfer, neutral species transfer and polymer configuration changes. Polyvinylferrocene is included among the redox polymers to be studied and polypyrrole is among the conducting polymers to be used. The investigations will produce structure-function correlations within and among various classes of polymers. Such relationships permit rational design of polymers for specific purposes. A fundamental understanding of the nature and processes occuring in electroactive polymers continues to be a major objective of studies on these materials because of their importance in technological areas such as batteries and membranes. This research provides a theoretical framework upon which to design experiments to examine these processes. From the experiments, information is obtained which will allow technological development of polymers for well-defined purposes.