Polypyrrole Composites: Electrochemical Synthesis, Characterizations and Applications

The electronically conducting polymers (ECPs), such as polypyrrole (PPy), polythiophene (PT) and polyaniline (PANI) are known to possess unusually high electrical conductivity in the doped state. Due to this, these materials have been of great interests for chemists as well as physicists since their electrical properties were reported (Diaz et al., 1979). The ECP films behave like a redox polymer and have potential applications in electrocatalysis, solar energy conversion, corrosion, electronics, etc. The redox polymer reaction is accompanied by a change in the electrical properties of the film from an insulator to an electrical conductor involving both electron and ion transport within the film (Kaplin & Qutubuddin, 1995). Conducting polymers can be synthesized either chemically or electrochemically. Electrochemical synthesis is the most common method as it is simpler, quick and perfectly controllable. PPy is one of the most interesting conducting polymers since it is easily deposited from aqueous and non-aqueous media, very adherent to many types of substrates, and is well-conducting and stable. Electrochemical polymerization produces thin films with a thickness of few micrometers on an electrode surface (Diaz et al., 1979), while a chemical oxidation yields a fine-grained material. However,the yield and quality of the resulting polymer films are influenced by several factors, such as nature and concentration of monomer and the counter ion, solvent, cell conditions (e.g. electrode and applied potential), temperature and pH (Sadki et al. 2000; Ansari, 2006 & Pina et al. 2011). ECPs can be modified in several ways (Juttner et al., 2004) to obtain tailored materials with special functions: (i) derivatization of the monomer by introducing aliphatic chains with functional groups; (ii) variation of the counterion, incorporated for charge compensation during the polymerization process; (iii) inclusion of neutral molecules with special chemical functions and (iv) formation of compounds with noble metal nanoparticles as catalyst for electrochemical oxidation and reduction processes. The electropolymerization reaction is a complex process and its mechanism is still not fully understood. A number of mechanisms have been proposed (Genies et al., 1983; Kim et al., 1988; Asavapiriyanont et al., 1984; Qui & Reynolds, 1992) and are comprehensively reviewed (Sadki et al. 2000; Ansari, 2006 & Pina et al. 2011). Among these, Diaz’s mechanism is the most accepted one (Genies et al., 1983) and supported by Waltman and Bargon (1984 & 1985) also. In this mechanism, the pyrrole (Py) activation occurs through electron transfer