Electrosynthesis of small polypyrrole microcontainers

Polypyrrole microcontainers with morphology like bowls and balls with diameters of only several micrometers were synthesized through an electrochemical polymerization route. In this process, the liquid organic monomer was dispersed in a neutral aqueous solution as microdroplets by sonication and then the droplets assembled onto the surface of an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass electrode modified with six bilayers of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) and poly(4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS). Polymerization of the outmost layers of the droplets resulted in the formation of well-ordered microcontainers on the working electrode surface in a number density of about 106 units cm−2.