Elaboration of Transparent Polymeric Films Trapping Copper Ions by Complexation

The aim of this work was to elaborate on a thin polymeric film for coating transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode supported on a glass substrate for trapping Cu 2 + ions. Possible applications are the easier detection of Cu 2 + ions due to complexation on the FTO surface or could be the making up of electrochromic devices using copper(I)-salt based electrolytes to avoid diffusion of Cu 2 + ions formed at the anode toward Cu(0) deposited on the cathode. These thin polymeric films proposed here as complexing material candidates toward copper ions belong to polyalkyleneimine polymers. They were obtained by anodic electropolymerization of aliphatic polyamines (with at least two primary amino groups) such as ethylenediamine, 1,3-diaminopropane, or diethylenetriamine on FTO electrode surfaces and characterized by IR attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy. Moreover, we have shown that polyalkyleneimine-type polymers used here present good chelating properties towards Cu 2 + ions due to the amino groups they contain. © 2004 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.