Novel synthesis of poly(2-acryloyloxyethyl ferrocenecarboxylate) as quasi-reversible redox-active gel polymer electrolytes

Abstract

In this research, the electrochemical behavior of poly(2-acryloyloxyethyl ferrocenecarboxylate) (PAEFc) synthesized via an atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) strategy was investigated in a series of tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP)/acetonitrile vs. Ag/AgNO3 system. In comparison, series of PAEFc electrolyte with specific molecular weight and depositing concentration were analyzed via cyclic voltammetry (CV) method. Furthermore, chronocoulometry (CC) technology has been employed on the dynamic electron/mass transfer mechanism and the determination of kinetic parameters (diffusion coefficients, reaction rate constant, etc.). Finally, it is demonstrated that anodic and cathodic process of PAEFc was controlled by diffusion and adsorption–diffusion, respectively. Meanwhile, the kinetic parameters of the typical quasi-reversible redox process were obtained, of which the apparent activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (A) were 121.38 kJ mol−1 4.28 × 1018 s−1, respectively.