Studies of arenediazonium salts as a new class of electropolymerization initiator

• Published in: Journal of applied polymer science Vol. 73; no. 11; pp. 2265 - 2272
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xu, Bell, James P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 12-09-1999; Wiley
• Subjects: Applied sciences; arenediazonium salts; conformal coating; electropolymerization; Exact sciences and technology; initiator; Physicochemistry of polymers; Polymerization; Polymers and radiations; Acrylonitrile copolymer; Methyl acrylate copolymer; Initiator; Electrolytical copolymerization; Priming activity; Electrochemical activity; Cathodic reaction; Diazonium compounds; Experimental study
• ISSN: 0021-8995; 1097-4628
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4628(19990912)73:11<2265::AID-APP24>3.0.CO;2-J

Electropolymerization holds great potential as a novel process for applying surface coatings onto a variety of substrates. Cathodic electropolymerization has been conducted successfully on metal substrates using initiation systems, such as sulfuric acid and potassium persulfate. However, each of these initiation systems has its own deficiency. This provided the motivation for investigating arenediazonium salts as a new class of cathodic electropolymerization initiators. Our studies found that arenediazonium salts can be easily reduced at reduction potentials lower than that of water to generate initiating free radicals. The reduction efficiency is very high. A copolymer of methyl acrylate and acrylonitrile has been polymerized onto steel surfaces using one of these salts, 4‐methyl benzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate, as initiator. Cyclic voltammetry and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) studies suggest a strong interaction exists between the initiator and the substrate, which can potentially enhance coating adhesion. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 2265–2272, 1999