| Abstract: | In the electrochemical reduction of an electroactive polymer several thousand electrons may be transferred to a single molecule. For polymers with noninteracting centers, recently developed theory indicates that the current—potential response would be identical with that of the corresponding molecule solvation, structural change, and variation in ionic environment, and may be used to probe these factors. A series of model compound of poly(vinylbenzophenone) and of poly(vinylbenzophenone-co-styrene) were prepared and investigated. In this study samples of various constant chain length with differing spacing of electroactive centers were employed. The current—potential measurements corresponded to the ideal theoretical case. This indicates that the behavior of the electroactive groups attached to the polymer chain was not influenced by the macromolecular environment or by neighboring group interaction. |
