Electrochemical polymerization of schiff base transition metal polymer poly[Ni(salen)] and its electrochemical performance in organic electrolyte

Poly[Ni(salen)] films were prepared by electrochemical polymerization with a constant potential method onto a polished Ti substrate in an organic electrolyte system. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to characterize the specific chemical groups of poly[Ni(salen)] and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to analyze its morphology and microstructure. The electrochemical properties of poly[Ni(salen)] were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) in 1 mol L-1 Et3MeNBF4/AN solution. Furthermore, the influence of different polymerization time on the microstructure and electrochemical performance were compared. The results showed that the surface coverage of poly[Ni(salen)] on the anode substrate increased as the polymerization time extension, but its electrochemical activity was greatly limited. The poly[Ni(salen)] film prepared in the polymerization time of 1000s showed the highest discharge specific capacitance (73.5 Fg-1) at a low current density of 0.5 Ag-1.