Poly-3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde Modified with 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid for Improvement of Electrochemical Activities

3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde(3,4-DHB) was oxidatively el electropolymerized on glassy carbon (GC) electrodes to prepare CC/p-3,4-DHB type electrodes, which were subsequently modified with 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid(3,4-DHBA) using 0.05M HCI as a catalyst. The esterification reactions were performed between -OH sites on the polymeric film surface of the p-3,4-DHB and the -COOH sites within the 3,4-DHBA molecules in solution. These reactions had a rate constant value of $1.1\times10^{-1}\;s^{-1}$ for the esterification step as obtained from the first-order rate constant in the solution. The electrochemical responses of the GC/p-3,4-DHB-3,4-DHBA electrodes exert an influence upon the buffer solution, its pH and applied potential ranges. The redox process of the electrode was more easily controlled by charge transfer kinetics than that of the CC/p-3,4-DHB. The modified electrodes had redox active sites that were 10 times more active than those present before modification. The electrical admittance of the modified electrodes was also three times higher than that of the unmodified electrodes. After being annealed in ethanol for 20 hrs the electrodes brought about a 3.3 times greater change of water molecules in the redox reaction. The modified electrodes are stable in the potential range of 0.4 to 0.55V.