T H E INFLUENCE O F DIFFERENT ELECTROPOLYMERIZATION CONDITIONS
OF POLY (N-SUBSTITUTED ON T H E ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES PYRROLE) D.I.Kang, W. J.Cho, H.W.Rhee*, and C.S.Ha Dept. of Polymer Sci. & Eng.,Pusan National Univ.,Pusan 609-735,Korea *Dept. of Chemical Eng.,Sogang Univ.,Seoul 121-742,Korea Electropolymerizations of pyrrole and n-substituted pyrroles, i.e. n-methyl pyrrole and n-ethyl pyrrole on platinum(Pt1 electrodes were carried out in two different solution electrolyte systems such a s acetonitrile(ACN) solution containing 0.036M tetrabutylammonium dodecylsulfate(TBADS) or aqueous solution containing 0.036M sodium dodecylsulfate(NaDS) under galvanostatic or cyclic conditions. T h e effects of different electropolymerization methods and different solution electrolyte systems on the electrochemical properties of polypyrrole and poly (N-substituted pyrrolds were investigated. The conductivities at room temperature of polypyrrole and poly (N -substituted pyrrole)^ were measured by the four-point probe method. T h e time dependences of the thickness of the electropolymerized films prepared by different methods were investigated along with their morphological characteristics using the scanning electron microscope(SEM).
TUE P78 ELECTROLESS RECOVERY OF PRECIOUS METALS FROM ACID SOLUTIONS BY N-CONTAINING ELECTROACTIVE POLYMERS
E.T. Kang;', Y.P. Ting' and K.L. Tan2
'Dept. of Chemical Engineering, *Dept. of Physics, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, SINGAPORE 051 1 By coupling the metal reduction process in acid solutions with an increase in the intrinsic oxidation state of a N-containing electroactive polymer, such as polypyrrole (PPY), polyaniline (PAN) and their derivatives, and the subsequent reprotonation and reduction of the intrinsically oxidized polymer in acid media, spontaneous and sustained reduction of precious metals, gold in particular, to their elemental form is achieved. The rate of metal reduction is dependent on the intrinsic redox states of the polymer,-the effective surface area of the polymer, and the pH of the solution. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) N 1s core-level spectra of protonated and deprotonated PPY and PAN after metal reduction suggest that the intrinsic structure of each polymer at the polymer/Au interface remains intact, even at [Au]/m] mole ratio much greater than 1. The process, however, is limited by the decreasing effective surface area of the polymer due to metal coverage. Nevertheless, a typical polymer film is capable of accumulating more than 5 times its own weight of Au before the reduction rate is severely retarded.