Département de chimie moléculaire

Owing to their cond., carbon nanotubes (CNTs) coatings are widely used for modifying electrode surfaces. In particular, the formation of bucky papers (BP) based on CNT assemblies obtained by filtration, represents an attractive way of creating a new kind of electrode. However, these BP are brittle and difficult to manipulate, hence their applications remain limited due to their fragility and lack of flexibility. Notably, their use for "in vivo" expts. is markedly hampered by the potential release of CNTs. The strengthening of the mech. stability of BP has hereby been explored by the combination of BP and linear polymeric chains displaying non-covalent $π$-interactions with CNTs. These org. polymers act as a crosslinking agent throughout the BP assembly thus conferring stability and flexibility. Flexible BP electrodes were produced by simply mixing poly(norbornene) bearing pyrene groups and multi-walled CNTs, both dispersed in DMF followed by filtration through a PTFE membrane. The immobilization of laccase as a model protein was achieved on the resulting BP electrodes by adsorption or chem. grafting. These biocathodes displayed a direct elec. communication with laccase, allowing the redn. of oxygen in water (pH 5) with max. current densities of ca 1.1 mA cm-2 at 0.4 V vs. SCE. [on SciFinder(R)]