Electrochemical Preparation of a Novel Electroactive Conductive Polymer Based on -Naphthylamine in

Electrooxidation of β-naphthylamine (β-NA) in different aqueous acid media was investigated. The formation of a film adhered to the electrode surface was observed as a principal product and for which a polymer structure through C-N coupling is proposed. A standard three-electrode electrochemical cell was used for voltammetric experiments. In this system, glassy carbon rod, platinum wire, and KCl/ saturated Ag/AgCl were used, respectively as the working, counter and the reference electrodes. From the analysis of the voltammetric and spectroscopic experiments some aspects of the mechanism of electrooxidation of β-NA leading to the formation of the film was proposed. The effects of various physical and electrochemical parameters such as the type of supporting electrolyte, temperature of the cell, pH, concentration of the monomer, scan rate and the number of scan cycles were studied. The electrochemical behaviour of the film was reported as a function of these parameters. A quasi-reversible behaviour was observed from cyclic voltammograms obtained in different acid solutions. The film behaved as a thin-layer cell when it was obtained at low scan rates and dilute solutions of the monomer.