The electrosynthesis of polyaniline at iron from an oxalic acid solution and at platinum from a sulphuric acid solution was compared with a view to determining the extent of film degradation during formation of polyaniline at iron. It was found that polyaniline grown from oxalic acid is less susceptible to degradation, due to the shielding effect of the oxalate counter anions. The benzoquinone/hydroquinone redox couple was detected for polyaniline films formed on platinum and cycled to 1.3 V/SCE, however, this redox species was not detected during the electropolymerization of aniline at iron polarized to potentials of 1.5 V/SCE. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.