A conducting polymer was used for the immobilization of various transition metal ion-substituted Dawson-type polyoxometalates (POMs) onto glassy carbon electrodes. Voltammetric responses of films of different thicknesses were stable within the pH domain 2-7 and reveal redox processes associated with the conducting polymer, the entrapped POMs and incorporated metal ions. The resulting POM doped 10 polypyrrole films were found to be extremely stable towards redox switching between the various redox states associated with the incorporated POM. An amperometric sensor for hydrogen peroxide detection based upon the POM doped polymer films was investigated. The detection limits were 0.3 and 0.6 uM, for the Cu 2+ -and Fe 3+ -substituted POM-doped polypyrrole films respectively, with a linear region from 0.1 up to 2mM H 2 O 2 . Surface characterization of the polymer films was carried out using atomic force 15 microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.
IntroductionPolyoxometalates (POMs) are a widely increasing class of inorganic early transition metal-oxide clusters. The structural and compositional diversity among this class of compounds have 20 enabled them to be promising candidates for a wide range of applications across material science, medicine, biotechnology, nanotechnology and catalysis. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The general structure of POMs consists of MO 6 units joined together by edge or corner sharing and connected tetrahedrally to a centrally bonded heteroatom 25 (usually phosphorus or silicon). One of the MO 6 units can be removed from the structure at higher pH and substituted with different metal ions allowing for controllable molecular design.Various strategies have been used for immobilization of POMs onto different surfaces, safeguarding their inherent properties. 30 These include: sol-gel technique, 13 polyoxometalates. 38,39 Despite the high selectivity and sensitivity of enzyme-modified electrodes, 40, 41 the limitation of usage of these systems is related to the difficulty in obtaining the optimal conditions and the lack of the enzymatic activity over a period of time, 42 POMs inside the polymer matrix were accessible for voltammetric studies in acidic medium. The films exhibited stable redox responses in the pH range of 2-7. Surface characterization was carried out using the AFM, XPS and SEM. Electrocatalytic activity of the films containing iron and copper-20 substituted POMs towards the reduction of hydrogen peroxide was studied by amperometry at physiological conditions (pH 6.5) and compared with the performance of the same POMs in solution 50 and immobilized onto an electrode surface via multilayer assemblies. 19 Conducting polymer-based POM-doped 25 polypyrrole films reveal the best analytical characteristics for hydrogen peroxide reduction in comparison with some other approaches.
Experimental
30
MaterialsThe potassium salts of all the substituted Dawson type polyoxometalates investigated were synthesized and characterised by both ele...