Electrochemically Patterned Transducer with Anisotropic PEDOT through Liquid Crystalline Template Polymerization

We have demonstrated patterning of highly ordered nanostructured conducting PEDOT (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)) on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) through electrochemical polymerization of a biobased liquid crystalline template of EDOT-PDPPA (3-pentadecylphenyl phosphoric acid). Self-assembled "EDOT-PDPPA" in water exhibited lyotropic liquid crystalline (LC) phases of nematic gyroid, columnar, and lamellar phases. Studies revealed that, during electrochemical polymerization, PEDOT-PDPPA mimicked the anisotropic domains of its monomer LC template. Nyquist plot showed enhancement in conductivity with a positive change in the HOMO- LUMO gap. Further, the efficiency of the modified GCE was demonstrated as an electrochemical transducer for the detection of nicotine. It was observed that oxidation of nicotine occurs at lower potential (0.83 V) with higher current (54.63 μA) compared to bare GCE (1.1 V, 17.86 μA) with nanomolar detection. This simple strategy of electrochemical patterning of conductive polymer on a conventional electrode can be exploited for the high tech applications in miniaturized plastronic devices.