Electropolymerization without an electric power supply
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Updated: Aug 12, 2025

Reductive Electropolymerization of a Vinyl-containing Poly-pyridyl Complex on Glassy Carbon and Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide Electrodes
Published on: January 30, 2015
Suguru Iwai1, Taichi Suzuki1, Hiroki Sakagami1
1Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 226-8502, Japan.
Abstract:
Electrifying synthesis is now a common slogan among synthetic chemists. In addition to the conventional two- or three-electrode systems that use batch-type cells, recent progress in organic electrochemical processes has been significant, including microflow electrochemical reactors, Li-ion battery-like technology, and bipolar electrochemistry. Herein we demonstrate an advanced electrosynthesis method without the application of electric power based on the concept of streaming potential-driven bipolar electrochemistry. As a proof-of-concept study, the electrochemical oxidative polymerization of aromatic monomers successfully yielded the corresponding polymer films on an electrode surface, which acted as an anode under the flow of electrolyte in a microchannel without an electric power supply.
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