Perchlorate interchange during the redox process of PPy/PVS films in an acetonitrile medium. A voltammetric and EDX study

Polypyrrole/poly(vinyl sulfonate) (PPy/PVS) films in acetonitrile containing 0.1 M LiClO4 were studied by cyclic voltammetry. Consecutive voltammograms pointed to a continuous increase in the charge. involved in the process. suggesting a rise in the number of the electroactive participants involved in the redox process. However, voltammograms obtained for the PPy/ClO4 films in analogous conditions pointed to a steady-state behavior from the very early cycles. Theoretical studies based on the Nernst and Butler-Volmer equations indicated that perchlorate ions are involved during the oxidation/reduction process of the PPy/PVS films when the steady state is reached. This result was confirmed by ex situ energy-dispersive X-ray analysis of the films. In this regard. the electrochemical behavior of PPy/PVS polymers was similar to that of PPy/ClO4 films when a high number of cycles were carried out. The exchange of ClO4- during the redox reaction of the PPy/PVS films made it necessary to incorporate Li-divided by cations inside the polymer during the initial voltammetric cycles to compensate for the negative charges of PVS polyanions. Li-divided by canons are mainly stabilized inside the polymer by the ion pairs formed with the sulfonated groups of the PVS. An increase and shift of the voltammetric cycles indicated a restructuring of the polymeric chains with consecutive scan.