SYNTHESIS AND ELECTROCHEMICAL STUDY OF COPOLYMERS CONTAINING FERROCENE AND IMIDAZOLE

Ferrocene based-polymers have been used in various applications such as sensors, semiconductors, lasers, solar cells, batteries, and photo-oxidation of thin films. However, ferrocene copolymers with electronic interactions between the ferrocene and neighboring moieties have not been well studied. To this end, copolymers of vinylferrocene and vinylimidazole were prepared in various ratios. Imidazole is well known to coordinate to various transition metals which may promote interactions between the ferrocene and imidazole moieties; and impart interesting electronic properties to the copolymer. Copolymers between vinylferrocene and vinylimidazole were prepared by free radical initiation and characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and GPC. Each copolymer was electrochemically characterized in solution (CH2Cl2) and as a thin film. In addition, the electrochemical response of each material was tested in the presence of various electrolytes such as NaClO4, Mg(ClO4)2, Zn(ClO4)2, Cd(ClO4)2, and Pb(ClO4)2. In addition, each polymer was studied by UV-vis spectroscopy in solution (CH2Cl2) and as thin films