Electrodeposition and Characterization of Conducting Polymer Films Obtained from Carbazole and 2-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)acetic Acid

Abstract

Electrochemical oxidation of electrolyte solutions containing carbazole (Cz) and 2-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)acetic acid (CzA) monomers was performed in acetonitrile solutions. Different Cz and CzA feed ratios were used to electrodeposit solid polymer films of various compositions, and to study the influence of the monomer ratio on the physicochemical properties (electroactivity, topography, adhesion, stiffness, wettability) of the polymer films. Thus, electrochemical oxidation led to the deposition of a solid film of micrometric thickness, but only for the solutions containing at least 30% of Cz. The proportion of Cz and CzA in the electrodeposited polymer films has little impact on the adhesion strength values measured by AFM. On the contrary, this proportion significantly modifies the stiffness of the films. Indeed, the stiffness of the polymer films varies from 9 to 24 GPa depending on the monomer ratio, which is much lower than the value obtained for unmodified polycarbazole (64 GPa). This leads to the absence of cracks in the films, which all have a fairly homogeneous globular structure. Moreover, among the different polymer films obtained, those prepared from 70:30 and 50:50 ratios in Cz:CzA monomer solutions seem to be the most interesting because these green films are conductive, thick, low in stiffness, do not show cracks and are resistant to prolonged immersion in water.

Keywords

• electrochemistry
• carbazole
• conducting polymers
• physico-chemistry
• stiffness
• adhesion