SYNTHESIS OF POLYCATECHOL WITH ELECTROCHEMICAL ACTIVITY AND ITS PROPERTIES

The electrochemical polymerization of catechol on platinum has been carried out using repeated potential cyclingbetween -0.2 and 1.1 V (versus SCE). The electrolytic solution consisted of 0.2 mol dm-3 catechol, 0.5 mol dm-3 NaCl and0.1 mol dm-3 Na2HPO4 with pH 8.72. Catechol can not be polymerized at pH ≥ 10.12. Polycatechol has an electrochemicalactivity at pH ≤ 4. The anodic and cathodic peak potentials of polycatechol shift towards more negative values as the pH ofthe solution increases from 1 to 4. The electrochemical activity of polycatechol hardly changes in this pH region, but itdecreases slowly with time. This is caused by oxygen in air, which leads to an irreversible oxidation of polycatechol. Thisproperty is favorable for protecting metals from corrosion. Raman and FTIR spectra of polycatechol and catechol are quitedifferent. AFM images of polycatechol films provide evidence that the image of the oxidized state of polycatechol ismarkedly different from that of the reduced one. This difference is caused by doping and dedoping of polycatechol.