Enhancement of electrodes modified by electrodepositedPEDOT‐nanowires with dispersedPt nanoparticles for formic acid electro‐oxidation

Abstract

Preparation of electrodes modified with poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) nanowires, PEDOT‐nw, was optimized using nanoparticles of dispersed Pt, Pt‐np, to be tested for HCOOH electro‐oxidation. The PEDOT‐nw is electrosynthesized directly on the working electrode, using mesoporous silica as template, by cyclic voltammetry from a 0.01 mol L−1 monomer + 0.1 mol L−1 tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate solution in acetonitrile, on the Pt|PEDOT|mesoporous silica template previously modified electrodes. Using SEM, the presence of PEDOT nanowires with 20 to 25 nm in diameter was verified. In addition, its p‐doping response is about 500 times larger than that obtained on the bulk polymer, maintaining full reversibility of the process. The subsequent electrochemical insertion of Pt‐np and formation of Pt‐np with average diameter of about 20 nm, checked by TEM, demonstrated that the catalytic activity of this nanostructured electrode remarkably enhanced HCOOH electro‐oxidation. The obtained current is up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously reported in similar studies, using a much smaller amount of Pt and with a potential decrease greater than 100 mV. Thus, we have at our disposal a simple, inexpensive, and highly reproducible way to prepare in situ nanostructured electrodes using just electrochemical techniques, which can be useful on all the applications of these devices. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44723.

Nanostructured TiO2 and PEDOT Electrodes with Photovoltaic Application

“…Afterwards, these electrodes were further modified with a dye to improve contact between TiO 2 and the subsequent PEDOT layers. Bulk PEDOT and PEDOT nanowires were then electrochemically polymerized using a methodology published in past reports [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 20 ] ( Figure 3 ). From the micrographs ( Figure 3 A,B), it can be seen that the polymer grows between the TiO 2 structures with excellent cohesion for the hetero junction.…”

“…A valid strategy to lower the costs of clean-energy-harvesting devices, such as photovoltaic cells, could be to incorporate low-cost and more efficient materials, such as conducting polymers (CPs). This class of polymers has shown interesting electronic and optical properties, while maintaining feasible handling of plastics [ 1 ], with applications in supercapacitors, light-emitting diodes, electrochromic and photosensitive devices, sensors, batteries, transistors, fuel cells, electrocatalysis, and photovoltaics, among others [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Mesoporous Silica-Based Materials for Electronics-Oriented Applications

“…From charge–discharge measurements, it also appears that the high surface areas developed by the conducting polymer nanowires enable to reach extremely large capacitance values, by several orders of magnitude as compared to PANI or PPy films deposited in the absence of template [168,173]. To date, such nanocomposite films made of conducting polymers confined in oriented mesoporous silica films have been essentially applied for electrocatalysis and electroanalysis purposes [174,175,176], but they are also promising in the field of energy [168,173] as briefly mentioned above in the supercapacitors section.…”

Effect of the Monomers Ratio in the Electrosynthesis of Poly(aniline- Co - O -Methoxyaniline) on Steel Corrosion Protection

“…However, the obtaining of this film was carried out by chemical means, with which there is no control of the morphology of the deposit. On the other hand, it has been verified that the electrochemical properties of these materials depend closely on their morphology, which varies depending on experimental variables such as electrochemical perturbation, concentration, or the type of support electrolyte used during electropolymerization [23][24][25][26].…”