Abstract
The electrochemical oxidation of thin coats of poly(N-vinylcarbazole) on platinum electrodes has been studied. The oxidation is shown to involve initially the cross-linking of the polymer chains through the oxidation of up to 50% of the carbazole moieties in the coat and the dimerization of the resulting pendant carbazole cation radicals. The resulting dimeric carbazole unit is more easily oxidized than the monomer and undergoes a further (reversible) two-electron oxidation. Theory is presented describing the shape of the current-voltage curves obtained, and this together with current transients obtained from potential-step experiments is used to confirm the mechanism and obtain a rate constant of 6×10−3M−1s−1 for the dimerization of the carbazole cation radicals within the coat.
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Compton, R.G., Davis, F.J. & Grant, S.C. The anodic oxidation of poly(N-vinylcarbazole) films. J Appl Electrochem 16, 239–249 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01093356
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01093356