| Abstract |
The potentiodynamic electrosynthesis of polytyramine (PTy) from acidic medium is analysed on the basis of the information collected by coupling cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The experimental results consistently indicate that different stages must be considered in a description of the polymerisation process, the first involving the formation of a poor-conducting, thin, smooth and homogeneous layer; at a later stage deposition kinetics change and eventually a nonplanar thick film is produced. A tentative polymerisation mechanism is proposed, which finds support on the ab initio calculations carried out to predict the reactive sites for tyramine (Ty) oxidation and polymer growth. |
