AC-Bipolar Electrosynthesis and Luminol Electrochemiluminescence Imaging of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and Its Composite Films
Elena Villani, Yanyun Zhang, Zhenghao Chen, Yaqian Zhou, Mariko Konishi, Ikuyoshi Tomita, Shinsuke Inagi
Abstract
Herein, we report the in-plane growth of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films and their composites, such as PEDOT-copper (PEDOT-Cu) and PEDOT-polythiophene (PEDOT-PT), on a nonconductive substrate by alternating current (AC)-bipolar electropolymerization and their subsequent use as wireless electrodes for the generation of luminol electrochemiluminescence (ECL). By using a gold (Au) wire as a bipolar electrode (BPE), a PEDOT film was initially fabricated exploiting the aforementioned electrochemical technique. Successively, the fabrication of PEDOT-Cu or PEDOT-PT composite films was accomplished by a subsequent AC-bipolar electrolysis step, where the PEDOT film was employed as a BPE to drive the cathodic electrodeposition of copper particles or the anodic electropolymerization of thiophene, respectively. Additionally, all polymer films were further employed as BPEs for the wireless generation of luminol ECL, which resulted in an intense light emission that could be imaged with a common digital camera. Interestingly, we have found that the intensity and spatial distribution of light emission generated from the ECL reaction revealed characteristics of the different polymer films that can be correlated with the conductivity and composition of the material.