Conducting Metallopolymers as Precursors to Fabricate Palladium Nanoparticle/Polymer Hybrids for Oxygen Reduction

The novel conducting metallopolymer [N,N'-((2,2'-dimethyl)propyl)bis(5-(2,2'-bithiophene-5-yl)salcylideniminato-palladium(II)](n) prepared by electropolymerization provides a polymer matrix in which the palladium metal centers are evenly distributed. The metal centers embedded directly in the conducting metallopolymer backbone serve as seed points for size-controlled palladium nanoparticle (NP) growth of 3.8 to 4.9 nm NPs within the conducting metallopolymer film. The palladium NP/conducting metallopolymer hybrid material has demonstrated electrocatalytic behavior toward oxygen reduction with peak current densities around 400 μA/cm(2) in acidic aqueous conditions. These results demonstrate a promising new method for the production of electrocatalytically active hybrid materials.