In situ probes of ion transport in conductive polymers

Analytical probes of ion transport in electrochemical redox situations which may be applied in situ are currently limited in number and scope. In this Thesis, a new approach is described for the detection and quantitation of ion transport during redox switching of conductive polymers such as polypyrrole. This approach, as demonstrated in this study, could be applied in two ways. First, optically responsive dopant ions such as pyrene- or naphthalene sulfonate could be used to monitor their transport in and out of the polymer matrix as the latter is electrochemically reduced and oxidized. The fluorescent property of these dopant ions is utilized for the in situ detection. Pseudo-cathodic doping processes may also be monitored by using positively-changed luminescent species such as acridine orange. The second technique is based on the derivatization of optically "silent" ions (such as ClO...