Electrochemical properties of the polypyrrole films doped with benzenesulfonate

The electrochemical redox behavior of the polypyrrole films doped with benzenesulfonate was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, the surface morphology of the films was characterized by AFM, and the interactions between pyrrole oligomers and the benzenesulfonate anion were modeled with quantum chemical methods. It is the first systematic study of the redox properties of this interesting system, somewhat of a model system with two complementing interactions (electrostatic and aromatic stacking). The influence of the electrodeposition charge and current density on the properties of the polymer film is explored. The voltammetric measurements show that redoxactivity of the polypyrrole films doped with benzenesulfonate anions is quite high, and markedly depends on the thickness of the film. Experiments with bilayered films show that electrode surface has an important but limited impact on the formation of organized compact structures.