CONDUCTING COMPOSITE FILMS BASED ON POLYPYRROLE AND CROSS-LINKED POLY(METHYL ACRYLATE CO HYDROXYETHYL ACRYLATE)

Polypyrrole/crosslinked poly(methyl acrylate-co-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PMA/HEA) conductive composite films were prepared by vapor phase pol ymerization of pyrrole within the silicon crosslinked PMA/HEA network using anhydrous ferric chloride as oxidant. It was found that the cond uctivity decreases with an increase in the amount of tetraethyl orthos ilicate (TEOS) crosslinker. With an increase in the amount of ferric c hloride, the conductivity increases and then decreases in spite of the increase in polypyrrole content in the conducting composite films, gi ving a maximum conductivity of 2.5 S/cm at 0.6 g FeCl3. The conductivi ty also strongly depends on other synthetic conditions such as the rea ction time, the nature and the amount of the solvent in pyrrole soluti on. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.