Electropolymerization kinetics of a binary mixture of o-phenylenediamine and 2-aminobenzothiazole and characterization of the obtained polymer films

Poly(o-phenylenediamine-co-2-aminobenzothiazole), P(oPD-co-2ABT), has been synthesized electrochemically from an aqueous acid medium. The initial rate of electrocopolymerization reaction on platinum electrode is small, and the rate law is Rate = KE [Na₂SO₄]⁰.⁴⁸ [HCl]¹.⁰⁹ [M]².⁰⁸. The apparent activation energy (Ea) is found to be 57.44 kJ mol⁻¹. The polymer films obtained have been characterized by cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, TGA, scanning electron microscopy, and IR-spectroscopy. The mechanism of the electrochemical polymerization reaction has been discussed. The monomer reactivity ratios (r₁ and r₂) were calculated using Fineman-Röss method.