Study of the electrical properties of novel hybrid organic–inorganic conducting textiles of polypyrrole-phosphotungstate-polyester using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

The electrical properties of novel hybrid organic–inorganic conducting fabrics of polyester (PES) coated with polypyrrole-PW12O403− (PPy-POM) have been tested for dry samples and specimens immersed in different pH solutions (1, 7, and 13). Electrical properties changes were measured by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This study showed that organic–inorganic PES-PPy-POM conducting textiles act as electronic conductors with semiconducting nature. The electrical conductivity was measured for different temperatures and a value of 44.4 meV was obtained for the activation energy by means of Arrhenius model. Samples immersed in solution increased their conductivity in more acid solutions due to polypyrrole protonation. As acidity increased protonation and oxidation state of polypyrrole chains increased, and a greater diffusion of counter-ions was observed since the hybrid conducting textiles presented a more swollen and porous structure. Counter-ion exchange was higher in more acid solutions since more charge was needed to compensate the positive charge of more oxidized polypyrrole chains. A catalytic effect might be expected for the H+ reduction for this new organic–inorganic electrode material in acid media.