Enhancement of electron transfer kinetics on a polyaniline-modified electrode in the presence of anionic dopants

The electrocatalytic redox behavior of 1,4-naphthoquinone (NQ) has been studied on a polyaniline-modified platinum electrode (PANI) using cyclic voltammetry and rotating disc electrode (RDE) as diagnostic techniques. The modified electrode was prepared by electropolymerization of aniline in different acidic solutions. The PANI showed electrocatalytic activity toward the redox behavior of NQ. This process includes the participation of PANI to the redox reaction of NQ via the surface catalysis phenomena. The cyclic voltammograms of NQ in HCl on the PANI-Cl-modified electrode showed an overlapped oxidation peak, the peak potential of which did not change with increasing scan rate. The influence of other anions including and as dopant was also studied and compared with Cl⁻. The use of HClO₄ as a supporting electrolyte resulted in well-separated redox peaks. The RDE voltammogram was used to obtain a quantitative assessment of reaction rate at the PANI-modified electrode. It was found that PANI acts as an electrocatalyst for NQ reduction with decreasing ΔE _p and increasing k°.