Electron transport kinetics for viologen-containing polypeptides with varying side group linker spacing

Studies investigating the influence of the length of linkers between redox-active moieties and peptide-based polymer backbones were conducted to advance fundamental knowledge toward the design and development of sustainably-sourced, recyclable, and degradable materials for energy applications. In this work, precursor polypeptides were synthesized through the ring-opening polymerizations of N-carboxyanhydrides decorated with varying lengths of alkylchloride side chain groups, followed by post-polymerization installation of the viologen moieties. Electrochemical interrogation of the viologen-based polypeptides provided estimates of the electron transfer rate constants, both heterogeneous (k⁰) and electron self-exchange (k_ex), the apparent diffusion coefficient (D_ap), and their device-based energy storage performance. For the first redox couple (viologen dication state to viologen radical-cation state), it was found that the rate of electron transfer among the pendant groups in all viologen-based polypeptides, k_ex, was not significantly impacted by linker length. In contrast, for the second redox couple (viologen radical-cation state to the neutral viologen), k_ex varied with linker length and was fastest during reduction from the viologen radical-cation state to the neutral viologen. Most interestingly, a linear relationship was identified between log(k⁰) and log(k_ex) with a slope of 1.85, indicating that electron transport in the viologen-based polypeptides followed most closely to Marcus–Hush theory with diffusion limitations or Laviron–Andrieux–Savéant (LAS) theory. Finally, the polypeptides were studied in lithium metal half cells to determine the relationship between k_ex and energy storage performance. The viologen-based polypeptide with the moderate length linker exhibited the highest capacity and lowest degree of swelling, but only moderate k_ex, demonstrating that the device performance was primarily influenced electrode swelling. Taken together, the viologen-polypeptide backbone dictated the mechanism of electron transfer, whereas the linker length could be used to alter the rate of electron transfer (k_ex). Balancing the rate of electron transfer (k_ex) and degree of swelling will be a major challenge to identify polymers for high performance energy storage devices.