Determination of Reorganization Energy from the Temperature Dependence of Electron Transfer Rate Constant for Hydroquinone-tethered Self-assembled Monolayers (SAMs)

The temperature dependence on the electron transfer rate constant $(k_{app})$ for hydroquinone redox center in $H_2Q(CH_2)_n$SH-SAMs (n = 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12) on gold electrode was investigated to obtain reorganization energy $(\lambda)$ using Laviron’s formalism and Arrhenius plot of ln $[k_{app}/T^{1/2}]$ vs. T^{-1} based on the Marcus densityof-states model. All the symmetry factors measured for the SAMs were relatively close to unity and rarely varied to temperature change as expected. The electron tunneling constant $(\beta)$ determined from the dependence of the $k_{app}$ on the distance between the redox center and the electrode surface gives almost the same $\beta$ values which are quite insensitive to temperature change. Good linear relationship of Arrhenius plot for all $H_2Q(CH_2)_n$SH-SAMs on gold electrode was obtained in the temperature range from 273 to 328 K. The slopes n Arrhenius plot deduced that $\lambda$ of hydroquinone moiety is ca. 1.3-1.4 eV irrespectively of alkyl chain length of the electroactive SAM.