Browsing by Author "Komba, Nathanael Rainald"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Preparation and characterization of organic conducting polymer films using monomers derived from cashew nut shell liquid
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2012) Komba, Nathanael Rainald
    Cardanol, one of the major constituents of cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) was isolated and hydrogenated to 3-pentadecylphenol (3-PDP) and subsequently derivatized to 1-methoxy-3-pentadecylbenzene (MPB). 3-PDP and MPB were used as monomers in either tetraethylammoniumtetraflouroborate (TEATFB) or lithium perchlorate (LP) electrolyte with acetonitrile solvent to electrochemically prepare polymer films. The electropolymerization was performed potentiodynamically by cyclic voltammetry using a three-electrode one compartment glass cell at 30 ± 2 oC. Indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass, platinum (Pt), glassy carbon (GC) and gold (Au) were used as working electrode materials. The electrochemical properties of the polymer films poly(3-pentadecylphenol) (P3-PDP) and poly(1-methoxy-3-pentadecylbenzene) (PMPB) were studied by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The PMPB was found to be electrochemically active while P3-PDP was electrochemically inactive. Conductivities of the PMPB and P3-PDP films were measured by a four-point probe and found to be 4.69 x 10-6 and 1.68 10-11 S cm-1, respectively. The film thickness was measured by the Alpha step surface profiler and the values were found to vary exponentially with the number of scan cycles. Based on the observed properties of the polymer films, plausible mechanisms for their formation were formulated.