Redox properties of the ferricyanide ion on electrodes coated with layer-by-layer thin films composed of polysaccharide and poly(allylamine).

Polyelectrolyte multilayer thin films were prepared by an alternate deposition of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and anionic polysaccharides {carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and alginic acid (AGA)} on the surface of a gold (Au) disk electrode, and the binding of ferricyanide Fe(CN)(6)(-) and hexaammine ruthenium ions Ru(NH(3))(6) to the films was evaluated. Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was also employed as a reference polyanion bearing carboxylate side chains. A quartz-crystal microbalance study showed that PAH-CMC and PAH-AGA multilayer films grow exponentially as the number of depositions increases. The thicknesses of five bilayers of (PAH-CMC)(5) and (PAH-AGA)(5) films were estimated to be 150 +/- 20 and 90 +/- 15 nm, respectively, in the dry state. The PAH/polysaccharide multilayer film-coated Au electrodes exhibited a redox response to the Fe(CN)(6)(-) ion dissolved in solution, irrespective of the sign of the surface charge of the film, suggesting the high permeability of the films to the Fe(CN)(6)(-) ion. In contrast, the PAH-PAA film-coated Au electrodes exhibited a redox response only when the outermost surface of the film was covered with a positively charged PAH layer. However, the permeation of the Ru(NH(3))(6) cation was severely suppressed for all of the multilayer films. It was possible to confine the Fe(CN)(6)(-) ion in the films by immersing the film-coated electrodes in a 1 mM Fe(CN)(6)(-) solution for 15 min. Thus, the Fe(CN)(6)(-)-confined electrodes exhibited a cyclic voltammetric response in the Fe(CN)(6)(-) ion-free buffer solution. The loading of the Fe(CN)(6)(-) ion in the films was higher when the surface charge of the film was positive and increased with increasing film thickness. It was also found that the Fe(CN)(6)(-) ion confined in the films serves as an electrocatalyst that oxidizes ascorbic acid in solution.