Monitoring of formation and redox transformations of poly(Methylene blue) films using an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance

An electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance and cyclic voltammetry have been used to monitor the growth of poly(methylene blue) films on gold during potential cycling between −0.6V and 1.0V vs. sce in sodium phosphate buffer (pH 8.2) and Na₂SO₄ solutions. Both the adsorption/desorption of monomer methylene blue and the formation of poly(methylene blue) film can be followed by microgravimetry. The response of the polymer films is significantly separated from that of the monomer species in solution. It has been proved that anion sorption/desorption occur during the redox transformation of the polymer, while cations play no role. Preliminary results on the complex protonation/deprotonation equilibria are also discussed.