TUE P77

T H E INFLUENCE O F DIFFERENT ELECTROPOLYMERIZATION CONDITIONS

OF POLY (N-SUBSTITUTED
ON T H E ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES
PYRROLE)
D.I.Kang, W. J.Cho, H.W.Rhee*, and C.S.Ha
Dept. of Polymer Sci. & Eng.,Pusan National Univ.,Pusan 609-735,Korea
*Dept. of Chemical Eng.,Sogang Univ.,Seoul 121-742,Korea
Electropolymerizations of pyrrole and n-substituted pyrroles, i.e. n-methyl pyrrole
and n-ethyl pyrrole on platinum(Pt1 electrodes were carried out in two different
solution electrolyte systems such a s acetonitrile(ACN) solution containing 0.036M
tetrabutylammonium dodecylsulfate(TBADS) or aqueous solution containing 0.036M
sodium dodecylsulfate(NaDS) under galvanostatic or cyclic conditions. T h e effects of
different electropolymerization methods and different solution electrolyte systems on
the electrochemical properties of polypyrrole and poly (N-substituted pyrrolds were
investigated. The conductivities at room temperature of polypyrrole and
poly (N -substituted pyrrole)^ were measured by the four-point probe method. T h e
time dependences of the thickness of the electropolymerized films prepared by
different methods were investigated along with their morphological characteristics
using the scanning electron microscope(SEM).

TUE P78
ELECTROLESS RECOVERY OF PRECIOUS METALS FROM ACID SOLUTIONS BY
N-CONTAINING ELECTROACTIVE POLYMERS

E.T. Kang;', Y.P. Ting' and K.L. Tan2

'Dept. of Chemical Engineering, *Dept. of Physics, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge,
SINGAPORE 051 1
By coupling the metal reduction process in acid solutions with an increase in the intrinsic oxidation
state of a N-containing electroactive polymer, such as polypyrrole (PPY), polyaniline (PAN) and
their derivatives, and the subsequent reprotonation and reduction of the intrinsically oxidized
polymer in acid media, spontaneous and sustained reduction of precious metals, gold in particular,
to their elemental form is achieved. The rate of metal reduction is dependent on the intrinsic redox
states of the polymer,-the effective surface area of the polymer, and the pH of the solution. The
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) N 1s core-level spectra of protonated and deprotonated
PPY and PAN after metal reduction suggest that the intrinsic structure of each polymer at the
polymer/Au interface remains intact, even at [Au]/m] mole ratio much greater than 1. The
process, however, is limited by the decreasing effective surface area of the polymer due to metal
coverage. Nevertheless, a typical polymer film is capable of accumulating more than 5 times its
own weight of Au before the reduction rate is severely retarded.

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