Abstract
The electrochemical oxidation and polymerisation of 1,3 dihydroxybenzene (resorcinol) and 3- hydroxybenzyl alcohol (3HBA) from aqueous neutral, acidic and basic solutions is studied. The development of polymer films on the electrodes is confirmed by the rapid decrease in current seen in the cyclic voltammograms (CV). The currents in alkaline solutions are much higher than in acidic or neutral solutions. It is more difficult to oxidise and polymerise both compounds in acidic solutions. The currents associated with the oxidation and polymerisation of resorcinol were found to be higher than for the 3HBA in all tested media. The optimised structures of the molecules and the frontier molecular orbital energies of the Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) and the Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) of each compound and derived anions are calculated. All values have been carried out by restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) level using 6-311G* basis set. The calculated energy levels are used to explain the observed electrochemical behaviour.