Kinetic and Mechanistic Aspects of a Poly(o-Toluidine)-Modified Gold Electrode. 2. Alternating Current Electrogravimetry Study in H2SO4 Solutions
Abstract
Electrodeposited poly(o-toluidine) (POT) on gold electrodes was investigated in 0.5 M H2SO4 aqueous solutions using alternating current electrogravimetry (simultaneous electrochemical impedance and mass transfer functions). The kinetic aspects of the three different redox transitions proposed for this polymer (leucoemeraldine-polaron transition, polaron-bipolaron transition, and bipolaron-pernigraniline transition) and the species involved, cation (hydrated proton), anion (bisulfate ion), and free solvent (water), are studied by means of the mass impedance technique. An ionic transfer model is proposed with coherent results where anion transfer is the fastest process and hydrated proton transfer is the slowest process (Grotthuss mechanism). The flux and counterflux of water molecules due to the conformational structure changes of the polymer and exclusion effect governed by the anion transfer are also discussed.