Electrochemical Examination of the Structure of Thin Hydrogel Layers Anchored to Regular and Microelectrode Surfaces

For the examination of hydrogel structure, thin layers of thermoresponsive gels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPA) and copolymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-sodium acrylate) (p(NIPA-co-AS)) were successfully anchored to microelectrode and regular electrode surfaces using the electrochemically induced free radical polymerization. The obtained layers were stable and covered the entire surface of the electrodes. Electroactive probes 1,1'-ferrocenedimethanol (Fc(CH2OH)2) and synthesized derivatives of ferrocene modified with polyethylene glycol units (Fc-PEGn) of various length (n = 4, 9, 75, and 135) were employed for studying the volume phase transition of the thin hydrogel layers and for the determination of their structural parameters. The quantitative information on the structural parameters of the hydrogel layers was derived from the obstruction model for diffusion using the voltammetrically determined diffusion coefficients for the model redox probe Fc(CH2OH)2. An approach to the determination of the effective radii of the gel openings (channels) for pNIPA and p(NIPA-co-AS) microlayers was developed. The obtained results were matched with the experimental results and allowed derivation of quantitative conclusions. The voltammograms obtained with modified electrodes in solutions containing Fc-PEG4, Fc-PEG9, and Fc-PEG75 were well defined and of appropriate height. However, the voltammograms recorded for Fc-PEG135, the hydrodynamic radius of which exceeded the size of the gel channels, were at the baseline level.