The Protective Nature of Dodecanethiol Self‐Assembled Monolayers Deposited on Au for the Electropolymerization of 3‐Methylthiophene

Abstract

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of dodecanethiol spontaneously deposited on Au were investigated as electrodes for the electropolymerization of 3-methylthiophene. The bare Au and SAM-Au electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and spectroscopic ellipsometry in order to study their surface characteristics. The SAMs on Au showed a thickness of 15 ± 20 ä and a densely packed nature that precluded dissolution of Au during the polymer growth in non-aqueous acidic solutions. The electrodeposition of poly-3-methylthiophene films on the bare and SAMAu electrodes was carried out by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The presence of the SAM on the electrode surface inhibited the first stages of polymerization of 3-methylthiophene, but after an induction time, compact and uniform films were obtained on the SAM-Au electrodes.

Superhydrophobic SAM Modified Electrodes for Enhanced Current Limiting Properties in Intrinsic Conducting Polymer Surge Protection Devices

“…With increased density, supersaturation takes place and polymerization is expected to occur at isolated pinholes in the SAM, followed by spreading out across the SAM surface, as has been seen for polypyrrole deposited onto hexadecanethiol SAM modified Au . Our growth study work shows that the polymer morphology initially formed on the SAM as a dense compact thin film (Figure a), which is similar to that found with the electrochemical deposition of poly­(3-methylthiophene) and poly­(3-octylthiophene) thin films on dodecanethiol Au modified electrodes as well as polyaniline on p -aminothiophenol modified Au electrodes . In this case, however, with increased deposition time there is a transition from 2-D lateral growth to 3-D growth as the morphology changes from being compact to highly porous, consisting of polymer nanofibers with a spaghetti-like appearance and with high conductivity.…”

“…shows that the polymer morphology initially formed on the SAM as a dense compact thin-film (Fig. 7a), which is similar to that found with the electrochemical deposition of poly-3-methylthiophene 42 and poly-3-octylthiophene 43 thin-films on dodecanethiol Au modified electrodes as well as polyaniline on p-aminothiophenol modified Au electrodes. 44 In this case however with increased deposition time there is a transition from 2-D lateral growth to 3-D growth as the morphology changes from being compact to highly porous, consisting of polymer nanofibres with a spaghetti-like appearance and with high conductivity.…”

Recent Advances in Layer-by-Layer Assembled Conducting Polymer Based Composites for Supercapacitors

“…In order to improve the properties of CP, particular attention has been paid to modifying the substrate to control the surface properties and to fabricate stable composites on the modified substrate. A particular study on electrochemical preparation of CP; for example polybithiophene [115,116], poly(3-methylthiophene) [117,118], poly(3-octylthiophene), PEDOT [119], PPy [120], and PANI [121] and its derivatives [122] on alkanethiols coated substrate disclosed that adsorption of alkanethiols directly influence the growing mechanism of CPs. An interesting study was carried out by Aradilla and coworkers [123], where two different CPs, PEDOT and PPy were assembled into a three-layered film (PEDOT|PPy|PEDOT) through the electrochemical LBL deposition method at a potential of 1.4 V. The central issue addressed in this study is the relationship between the octanethiol self-assembled monolayer and the electrochemical behaviour of the three-layered symmetric system.…”

Cytochrome c‐Derived Hybrid Systems Based on Moleculary Imprinted Polymers

“…On this layer the poly-scopoletin was electrodeposited in presence of Cyt c. After electropolymerization the template was removed and the binding of Cyt c was studied in the absence and presence of interfering proteins. The formation of an electropolymer film on top of a SAM has up to now been reported only in a few papers [39][40][41]. The opposite sequence, i.e., filling of holes in elecropolymer films, has been used in a surface imprinted sensor [42].…”