Nano Today, Vol.10, No.2, 138-167, 2015
Electrochemical nanoarchitectonics and layer-by-layer assembly: From basics to future
During the last few decades, electrochemistry and electrode modification have seen a tremendous fall off in creativity with the emergence of the nanoarchitectonic-based layer-by-layer (LbL) film deposition technique. An unprecedented variety of building blocks can be immobilized on surfaces, leading to progress in several fields including sensing, electrochromic, electro-responsive and energy devices. This review describes the state of the art of electrochemical devices based on LbL assemblies, with a focus on supercapacitors, biosensors, and electroresponsive LbL such as electrodissolution/electroswelling of coatings. Recently, electrochemistry has also been used as an "active trigger" to induce the formation of films by covalent coupling, leading to new nanoarchitectonic approaches beyond the LbL strategy. These emerging electro-coupling reactions, including electroclick and carbazole chemistry, open new perspectives toward architecture and patterning of functional films and are extensively reviewed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Polyelectrolyte;Water splitting;Electroclick;Supercapacitor;Actuator;Carbazole chemistry;Corrosion