Polypyrrole/thermally sensitive polyelectrolyte composite (I)

Polypyrrole (PPy) was prepared by electrochemical polymerization with the polyelectrolyte (PE) as a dopant. The PEs were copolymers of the water soluble polymers and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS). The water soluble polymers were thermally sensitive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide), P(NiPAAm) and thermally insensitive poly(acrylamide), P(AAm). The surface of PPy/PE film observed by SEM was smoother than that of PPy film doped with a monoelectrolyte. PPy/PE composites were fairly conductive, whose electrical conductivities measured by the four-probe method were in the range of 10−1 to 10−2 S/cm. The characteristics of cation and anion exchange during redox processes were investigated by applying potential from −0.8 to 0.5 V vs. an Ag/AgCl reference electrode to the PPy. The effect of temperature on the doping–dedoping behavior and mass change of PPy composites was investigated by potentiodynamic voltammetry and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The electrochemical activity of the PPy/PE gradually decreased with increasing temperature. PPy/P(NiPAAm/AMPS) showed much greater mass change with increasing temperature than PPy/P(AAm/AMPS), mainly because of a decrease in the degree of swelling of thermally sensitive moiety. This confirms that PPy/P(NiPAAm/AMPS) possesses temperature-dependent electrochemical activity, which indicates that it can be utilized for many attractive applications. The thermal volume transition temperature of PPy/P(NiPAAm/AMPS) was estimated from the slope change of mass decrease. The transition temperature of the oxidized state of PPy/P(NiPAAm/AMPS) was higher than that of the reduced state.