Effect of topology structure on the electrochemical behavior of hydrogen-bonded self-assembled Poly(4-vinylpyridine) -ferrocenyl dendron complexes

Abstract

In this report, two new redox-responsive complexes with different dendritic tail chain number (P4VP- nFc, n = 1, 2) were prepared via the hydrogen-bonded self-assembly of poly(4-vinylpyridine) and ferrocenyl-modified percec-type dendrons. These complexes exhibited a crystalline phase for P4VP-1Fc and liquid crystalline for P4VP-2Fc at room temperature. The cyclic voltammetry measurement shows that the electrode process of P4VP-nFc (n = 1, 2) films was diffusion controlled and the reversibility of the electrode process for the P4VP-2Fc films became better than that for the P4VP-1Fc. Moreover, the redox peak current |ip| increased with increasing dendritic tail chain number n in the complex, because the complex film formed with 2Fc-COOH has the looser stacking of alkyl chains, which was favorable for the electrolyte diffusion and charge transfer. The present results demonstrate that the electrochemical activity of the redox-responsive poly(4-vinylpyridine) -ferrocenyl dendron complex can be easily tuned using the dendritic tail chain with different numbers. These complexes may be used as new kinds of modified electrodes.