Infrared spectroelectrochemical study of the oxidation of substituted phenols of relevance to the surface oxidation of polystyrene (original) (raw)

This work explores the changes in chemical structure to polystyrene upon treatment with oxidising agents and to monitor the oxidation in situ on addition of these agents using FTIR spectroscopy technique in order to understand the oxidation mechanisms. The electrochemical oxidation of TBP, unsubstituted phenol and o,m,p-cresols presented as defect sites in surface microstructure of the polystyrene was first studied using cyclic voltammetry and a combined technique of chronoamperometry and in situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The results obtained showed that the oxidation of TBP involves a one electron per proton transfer, leading to the formation of 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenoxy radical. Additionally, enhanced electron-transfer kinetics was observed at the EPPG in comparison to the GC and BDD electrodes and this was attributed to the presence of the edge sites in the surface microstructure of the EPPG. The electrochemical oxidation of the unsubstituted phenol studied under the same experime...