Microcontainers with Electrochemically Reversible Permeability

The present study demonstrates a novel application of polyelectrolyte microcapsules as microcontainers with electrochemically reversible flux of redox active materials into and out of the capsule volume. Incorporation of the capsules inside the conducting polymer (polypyrrole) film results in a new composite electrode combining electrocatalytic and conducting properties of the polypyrrole with the storage and release properties of the capsules. This electrode, if loaded with electrochemical fuels, can possess electrochemically controlled switching between “open/closed” states of the capsule shell and be of practical interest for a new type of chemically rechargeable batteries or fuel cells. A special explanation for the potential depending loading and unloading of the capsule inner volume may be related to the fact that the polyelectrolyte capsules experience a potential gradient in the polypyrrole matrix within which the polyions of the shell can be moved.