Synthesis and Electrochemical Characterization of New Thioether- and Ferrocene-Containing Copolymers

Abstract

Random copolymers containing both ferrocene groups and thioether groups were synthesized by free-radical copolymerization of vinylferrocene and 2-(methylthio)ethyl methacrylate, and the random nature of the copolymerization was confirmed by spectroscopic studies. Copolymers with ferrocene-to-thioether ratios of 8 : 1 and 1.2 : 1 were used to modify the surfaces of gold electrodes, and the behaviours of the resulting surface-modified electrodes were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The SMEs based on the copolymers showed superior stability compared to SMEs based on poly(vinylferrocene), with the most stable SMEs being formed from the copolymer with the higher proportion of thioether groups.