SPECTROSCOPIC AND SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF VIRGIN AND RECAST FILMS OF ELECTROCHEMICALLY PREPARED POLY(O-PHENYLENEDIAMINE)

It has been found that poly(o-phenylenediamine)(PoPD) electrochemicall y prepared shows considerable solubility in organic media and PoPD is most soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide (17.0 g dm(-3)). The spectroscopic, scanning tunneling microscopic and electrochemical characterization o f the virgin and recast (reprocessed) films of PoPD has been studied, and the results compared. In both films, the anodic peak at -0.05 V vs . see was responsible for the color change of the film from transparen t yellow to red brown. However, the electrochemical reversibility of t he recast film was much worse than that of the virgin film. This was a ttributed to the crowded stacking of the former polymer chains which p revented counter anions from being readily undoped.