An AFM study on polymers electrodeposited on active metals with different counter electrodes

Electrodeposition of polypyrrole was carried out on aluminum coated silicon substrates using various counter electrodes in the galvanostatic mode. It was found that the counter electrode plays a vital role along with the working electrode in the electrodeposition of polypyrrole. The electrodeposited films were studied under Atomic Force Microscope in contact mode. There were significant differences in the morphology of the PPy/TBACF3SO3 films electrodeposited using different counter electrode material. The counter electrodes used were Ti, stainless steel, Ni, Pt and Au. This study reveals that Pt counter electrode gives very uniform and well grown PPy films while stainless steel is the best cost effective choice when a low grown but uniform film is needed.