Electropolymerization of ethylene dioxythiophene (EDOT) in micellar aqueous solutions studied by electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance and surface plasmon resonance

Electropolymerization of 3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene (EDOT) on gold electrodes was studied in situ by means of an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) and by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR) using aqueous micellar monomer solutions. Electrodeposition from micellar solutions performed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) displayed an enhanced rate as compared to surfactant concentrations lower than the critical micelle concentration (cmc) or in surfactant-free monomer solutions. EQCM data indicate the occurrence of additional film growth during the reductive scan to large negative potentials which does not occur in electropolymerization experiments using potentiostatic pulses or cyclovoltammetric cycles with less negative potential scans. Our results further suggest that in the case of the anionic surfactant the oxidation potential of the monomer is lowered even at surfactant concentrations below the cmc. AFM investigations show a slightly enhanced roughness of the films obtained from micellar monomer solutions.