Facile synthesis and characterization of polypyrrole-multiwalled carbon nanotubes by in situ oxidative polymerization

International Nano Letters, Sep 2013

Polypyrrole-multiwall carbon nanotube (PPy-MWCNT) nanocomposites were chemically synthesized via in situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole. Ammonium peroxydisulfate and p-toluenesulfonic acid were used as an initiator and surfactant dopant, respectively. The molar ratio of monomer unit to initiator and dopant was 1:1:1, and the percentage of MWCNT in PPy varied from 1 to 10 wt.%. PPy-MWCNT nanocomposites were characterized to study chemical structure, morphology, thermal, electrical, and surface properties. To accomplish this, the samples have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, four probe resistivity method, and atomic force microscopy. The results showed that PPy-MWCNT nanocomposites were successfully synthesized via in situ oxidative polymerization method, and also, electrical conductivity of nanocomposites was increased when the content of MWCNT increase.

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Facile synthesis and characterization of polypyrrole-multiwalled carbon nanotubes by in situ oxidative polymerization

International Nano Letters Facile synthesis and characterization of polypyrrole-multiwalled carbon nanotubes by in situ oxidative polymerization Amin Imani 0 Gholamali Farzi 0 Adnen Ltaief 0 0 Department of Materials and Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University , P.O. BOX397, Sabzevar , Iran Polypyrrole-multiwall carbon nanotube (PPy-MWCNT) nanocomposites were chemically synthesized via in situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole. Ammonium peroxydisulfate and p-toluenesulfonic acid were used as an initiator and surfactant dopant, respectively. The molar ratio of monomer unit to initiator and dopant was 1:1:1, and the percentage of MWCNT in PPy varied from 1 to 10 wt.%. PPy-MWCNT nanocomposites were characterized to study chemical structure, morphology, thermal, electrical, and surface properties. To accomplish this, the samples have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, four probe resistivity method, and atomic force microscopy. The results showed that PPy-MWCNT nanocomposites were successfully synthesized via in situ oxidative polymerization method, and also, electrical conductivity of nanocomposites was increased when the content of MWCNT increase. Polypyrrole; Multiwall carbon nanotubes; Nanocomposites; Oxidative polymerization; Conductivity; AFM - Background It appears that one of the most important group of materials are the conducting polymers with a vast field of applications from primarily passive materials such as coatings and containers to active materials with useful optical, electronic, energy storage, and mechanical properties. They are synthesized either by reduction or oxidation reaction, which is called doping process. Among several conducting polymers, polypyrrole (PPy) has attracted much attention from researchers due to its unique properties such as high conductivity, simple methods of preparation, simply synthesis as a composite matrix, stability, and good mechanical properties. Due to these exceptional properties, it has many potential applications in electronic and electrochromic devices, corrosion protection, rechargeable and lightweight batteries, drug delivery, membrane separation, supercapacitors, and sensors [1-4]. PPy was first synthesized by chemical polymerization during the early nineteenth century [5]. It was found insoluble in most of the common solvents due to the strong interchain interaction. Usually in chemical polymerization, oxidative agents initiate the chemical reaction. Such a method allows us to categorize oxidative polymerization of pyrrole as a new area in cationic polymerization, in which the conditions of initiation, propagation, and termination of the chains can be said by means of the electrochemical potential of the system. Oxidative polymerization exemplifies a new means to access conducting polymers, and it is one of the important green chemistry processes to prepare multifunctional polymers. This method has been widely used to prepare different types of conducting polymers [6,7] and their different derivatives [8]. PPy can be made chemically through oxidative polymerization of pyrrole. In this neutral state of the PPy, it is not conductive and only becomes conductive when it is oxidized [9]. The charge related with the oxidized state is naturally delocalized over some pyrrole units and can form a radical polaron or a bipolaron [10]. It has also been recognized to be very easy to prepare PPy particles of different sizes ranging from micrometers to nanometers with the addition of different dopants [11]. Nevertheless, PPy provides suitable properties, but to adjust the polymer attributes and attain excellent properties, they have been used in composites structure by combining with nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) [12,13]. In general, nanocomposite materials with CNT can show different mechanical, electrical, optical, electrochemical, catalytic, and structural properties than those of each individual component. The multifunctional behavior for any specific property of the material is often more than the sum of the individual components [2]. CNT also have received important concentration for their unique mechanical, electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties that have been used in the field of nanocomposites materials, nanodevices, and so on [4]. The large specific area and aspect ratio of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have made them efficient as conductive fillers in polymers [14]. In this work, PPy-MWCNT nanocomposites were prepared via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization, and the content of MWCNTs in the composites varied from 1 to 10 wt.%. The impact of different contents of MWCNTs on the structures and properties of the PPy-MWCNT nanocomposites were deeply discussed based on the results from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Xray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysi (...truncated)


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Amin Imani, Gholamali Farzi, Adnen Ltaief. Facile synthesis and characterization of polypyrrole-multiwalled carbon nanotubes by in situ oxidative polymerization, International Nano Letters, 2013, pp. 52, Volume 3, Issue 1, DOI: 10.1186/2228-5326-3-52