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Elucidation of charge storage characteristics of conducting polymer film using redox reaction

A general technique to investigate charge storage characteristics of conducting polymer films has been developed. A redox reaction is conducted on a polymer film on a rotating disk electrode under potentiostatic condition so that the rate of charging of the film equals the rate of removal of the charge by the reaction. In an experiment on polyaniline film deposited on platinum substrate, using Fe2+/Fe3+ in HCl as the redox system, the voltammogram shows five distinct linear segments (bands) with discontinuity in the slope at specific transition potentials. These bands are the same as those indicated by ESR/Raman spectroscopy with comparable transition potentials. From the dependence of the slopes of the bands on concentration of ferrous and ferric ions, it was possible to estimate the energies of the charge carrier in different bands. It is shown that the charge storage in the film is capacitive.