Effect of PANi electrodeposition methods on copper substrate

Abstract

To assess the effect of different electrochemical techniques in the synthesis of polyaniline (PANi) on copper substrates, this paper presents a comparison between cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. For each technique, four synthesis processes were conducted with different potentials using a three-electrode electrochemical set-up with a neutral electrolyte (pH=7). According to the comparison, the oxidation potential sweep associated to cyclic voltammetry results in the synthesys of PANi in three different oxidation states. As synthesis by this technique results in a non-homogeneous layer conformed by different species of PANi, the characteristics of the film are difficult to determine as all three species have different electric, optic and morphologic attributes. On the other hand, selecting an appropriate oxidation potential, chronoamperometry results in the synthesis of a homogeneous layer of PANi. The use of one unique oxidation potential results in a stable process that synthetizes a homogeneous layer of pernigraniline, a stable oxidation state of PANi.