Abstract
A novel poly-geminal dicationic ionic liquid (PGDIL)-TiO2/Au composite film electrode was successfully prepared by electrochemical polymerization of 1,4-bis(3-(m-aminobenzyl)imidazol-1-yl)butane bis(hexafluorinephosphate) containing polymerizable anilino groups in the electrolyte containing nano-TiO2. The basic properties of PGDIL–TiO2/Au composite films were studied by SEM, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and differential pulse voltammetry. The SEM results revealed that the PGDIL–TiO2 powder has a more uniform and smaller particle size than the PGDIL. The cyclic voltammetry results showed that the catalytic effect on electrochemical oxidation of hydroquinone and catechol of the PGDIL–TiO2 electrode is the best, yet the Rct of PGDIL–TiO2 electrode is higher than that of PGDIL and TiO2 electrode, which is caused by the synergistic effect between TiO2 and PGDIL. The PGDIL–TiO2/Au composite electrode presents a good enhancement effect on the reversible electrochemical oxidation of hydroquinone and catechol, and differential pulse voltammetry tests of the hydroquinone and catechol in a certain concentration range revealed that the PGDIL–TiO2/Au electrode enables a high sensitivity to the differentiation and detection of hydroquinone and catechol. Furthermore, the electrochemical catalytic mechanism of the PGDIL–TiO2/Au electrode was studied. It was found that the recombination of TiO2 improved the reversibility and activity of the PGDIL–TiO2/Au electrode for the electrocatalytic reaction of HQ and CC. The PGDIL–TiO2/Au electrode is also expected to be used for catalytic oxidation and detection of other organic pollutants containing –OH groups.
Highlights
Ionic liquids (PILs) are a kind of functional polymer material that contain at least one ion center in a polymer chain and a repeating unit similar to a common ionic liquid (IL) structure; they combine the properties of polymers and ionic liquids, and show are in the foreground of applications for ionic conductors, adsorption and separation, dispersants, and catalysts [1,2,3,4]
The cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves of geminal dicationic ILs (GDILs) on the Au electrodes have the appearance of this pair for the formation of a chain-type polymer reaction, increased with the polymerization, and redox peak pair, which proves that f–f’ peak is the redox peak pair of polymerization
The CV curves of GDIL on the Au electrodes have the appearance of this redox the polymerization process of GDIL on the Au electrode did not contain this reduction peak of the cation peak pair, which proves that f–f’ peak is the redox peak pair of polymerization
Summary
Ionic liquids (PILs) are a kind of functional polymer material that contain at least one ion center in a polymer chain and a repeating unit similar to a common ionic liquid (IL) structure; they combine the properties of polymers and ionic liquids, and show are in the foreground of applications for ionic conductors, adsorption and separation, dispersants, and catalysts [1,2,3,4]. There have been many reports on the application of nano-TiO2 composite polymers in the electrocatalysis of organic materials [19], including a study by the present research group [20]. Hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) are important phenolic compounds that are widely used as basic raw materials in the organic chemical, agriculture, and medicine industries, among others [27] They are typical and important electro-active molecules in fundamental electrochemical research. The present research group previously successfully synthesized 1,4-bis(3-(m-aminobenzyl) imidazol-1-yl)butane bis(hexafluorinephosphate) ([C4 (m-ABIM)2 ][PF6 ]2 ), which is a novel GDIL containing anilino groups, and poly-[C4 (m-ABIM)2 ][PF6 ]2 (PGDIL) with a polyaniline-like structure was prepared by electro-polymerization [33]. It was expected that the PGDIL–TiO2 composite film would have the advantages of both PGDIL and TiO2
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