Solvent and electrode influence on electrochemical forming of poly-Fe(III)-aminophenylporphyrin films

Abstract

Fe(III)-complexes of amino-substituted tetraphenylporphyrins obtained from solutions in organic solvents: dichloromethane, ethanol, and dimethyl sulfoxide have been electropolymerized. The solvents’ effects on deposition and surface morphology of the obtained polyporphyrin film have been determined. It is only possible to obtain a polyporphyrin film from DMSO solutions through electrochemical activation of electropolymerization by a superoxide anion radical (O[Formula: see text]. The activation effect of the dissolved oxygen becomes evident in porphyrin interaction with the superoxide anion radical (O[Formula: see text] that is synthesized in DMSO thanks to the quasi-reversible redox process. The size of particles forming the film is lowest when the film is deposited from DMSO and highest when it is deposited from dichloromethane. Therefore, the ratio of polyporphyrin phase grain growth rate to the nucleation rate has the highest value when the film is deposited from dichloromethane. Such films have the most developed surfaces, while those deposited from ethanol are the smoothest. If the film is deposited on an ITO-electrode, the particles forming the surface are a little larger than in the case of deposition on Pt, which is explained by a slower nucleation on the ITO surface. FeClT([Formula: see text]-NH2Ph)P-based films obtained from ethanol and dichloromethane have negative photo-EMF values, which indicates that the [Formula: see text]-type films have semiconductor properties.