Bidimensional chronoabsorptometric study of electropolymerisation of 4,4 '-bis(2-methylbutylthio)-2,2 '-bithiophene

Bidimensional chronoabsorptometry is a novel spectroelectrochemical technique that monitors simultaneously three different signals: current and absorbance both normal to the electrode plane and parallel to this plane during a time in which a fixed potential is imposed. This technique is applied in the visible range to the study of the electropolymerisation of 4,4'-bis(2-methylbutylthio)2,2'-bithiophene (MBTBT). Experiments are performed in a spectroelectrochemical cell under finite diffusion conditions (thin layer cell) with the aim of interpreting the processes taking place both at the electrode surface and in the adjacent solution during the potentiostatic electrogeneration and deposition of the polymer. Correlations are drawn out among the trends of the oligomers concentration in solution, the polymer electrodeposition and charging, and the current flow, on the time scales of the different steps of the process. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.