Mediating conducting polymer growth within hydrogels by controlling nucleation

oleh: A. J. Patton, R. A. Green, L. A. Poole-Warren

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: AIP Publishing LLC 2015-01-01

Deskripsi

This study examines the efficacy of primary and secondary nucleation for electrochemical polymerisation of conductive polymers within poly(vinyl alcohol) methacrylate hydrogels. The two methods of nucleation investigated were a primary heterogeneous mechanism via introduction of conductive bulk metallic glass (Mg64Zn30Ca5Na1) particles and a secondary mechanism via introduction of “pre-polymerised” conducting polymer within the hydrogel (PEDOT:PSS). Evidence of nucleation was not seen in the bulk metallic glass loaded gels, however, the PEDOT:PSS loaded gels produced charge storage capacities over 15 mC/cm2 when sufficient polymer was loaded. These studies support the hypothesis that secondary nucleation is an efficient approach to producing stand-alone conducting hydrogels.