Doped polypyrrole with good solubility and film forming properties suitable for device applications

Polypyrrole (PPy) soluble in various organic solvents was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization with ammonium persulfate as the oxidant and di (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinic acid sodium salt (NaDEHS) and dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid sodium salt (NaDBSA) as dopants. The solubility of the PPy/NaDEHS/NaDBSA samples in various solvents was investigated. PPy-NaDEHS sample shows high solubility and the polymer film show conductivity of the order of 10(-1) S/cm compared to PPY-NaDBSA. The FTIR spectra of the samples show the presence of all the characteristic absorption peaks of polypyrrole and the dopants were found to be incorporated into polypyrrole. Thermogravemetric analysis shows high PPy-NaDEHS is more thermally stable compared to PPY-NaDBSA. XRD patterns of the samples show partially crystalline nature. UV visible absorption spectroscopic studies of the homogeneous solutions of the doped PPy samples prepared from the various solvents show different absorption behaviour in the near IR region depending on the polarity of the solvent. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.