Quinone Pendant Group Kinetics in Poly(pyrrol-3-ylhydroquinone)

• Herein, we investigate the kinetics of the redox processes occurring in acidic aqueous electrolyte in electropolymerized poly(pyrrol-3-ylhydroquinone), which has been proposed for electrical energy storage applications. The redox conversion of the pendant groups is found to be limited by the quinone redox kinetics in thin films, rather than by the conduction through the polypyrrole backbone. Rate constants for the elementary steps involved in this 2e−, 2H+ process are reported. As the films are made thicker, a gradual transition to a diffusion limited reaction is observed. The origin of the diffusion process, as well as the elementary reaction steps limiting the pendant group redox conversion is analyzed using DFT computations. The fact that the electron transport through the thin film conducting polymer backbone is not limiting the quinone reaction kinetics should allow for design of battery electrodes with high rate capabilities based on the studied material.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Fysikalisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Physical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Teknisk fysik med inriktning mot nanoteknologi och funktionella material

Engineering Science with specialization in Nanotechnology and Functional Materials

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)