Electrochemical techniques are used to investigate the physical and chemical properties for different forms of cellulose materials and processes within functionalized cellulose materials. Thin films on electrodes are formed and processes are monitored using voltammetry and impedance methods. In the first part of this thesis, ferrocene is used to covalently functionalise natural cellulose nano-whiskers which allows stable electrochemical responses to be observed consistent with Fe(IIIIII) redox switching in thin films at the electrode surface. Next, electrostatic layer-by- layer methods are used for making films of nano-cellulose-polyanilline and poly-(acrylamide- co-acrylamide-phenylboronic acid) with poly-diallyldimethylammonium or P(A-APBA)- PDDA on electrode surfaces. These films are investigated as a function of pH and thickness and proposed for sensor applications. In the second part of the thesis, natural cotton is used as a sampling substrate for the detection of heavy metals with a new reagent-less voltammetric cell design using a "dry stripping voltammetry" method, and demonstrating extremely low detection limits under optimised conditions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:577235 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Shariki, Sara |
| Publisher | University of Bath |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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