Conducting Polymer Electrodes Modified by Metallic Species for Electrocatalytic Purposes-Spectroscopic and Microscopic Characterization

Abstract: Poly-3-methylthiophene (PMT) electrodes, modified by the dispersion of copper-containing particles in which copper is in the Cu(I) oxidation state, were prepared by an all-electrochemical procedure. Cu(I) deposition was achieved by applying a potential pulse program. The microscopic characterization of the deposit was performed by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), and showed a correlation between the pulse width and the amount and size of the deposited particles. The Cu(I), the major copper species for pulse width less than or equal to 500 ms, was shown by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis to be present as Cu2O and/or CuCl. Some preliminary results on the electrocatalytic properties of these modified electrodes in the oxidation of polyhydroxy compounds (e.g., glucose, tartaric acid, xylose, ribose, fructose, galactose, mannose) are reported.