ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Coaxial conducting polymer nanotubes: polypyrrole nanotubes coated with polyaniline or poly(p-phenylenediamine) and products of their carbonisation

Jaroslav Stejskal, Irina Sapurina, Miroslava Trchová, Ivana Šeděnková, Jana Kovářová, Jitka Kopecká, and Jan Prokeš

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 162 06 Prague 6, Czech Republic

E-mail: stejskal@imc.cas.cz

Abstract: Polypyrrole nanotubes were prepared by the oxidation of pyrrole with iron(III) chloride in a reaction mixture containing methyl orange. They were subsequently coated with polyaniline or poly(p-phenylenediamine) in situ during the oxidation of respective monomers in their presence. A part of the coaxial nanotubes was deprotonated using ammonia solution. The conductivity of polypyrrole nanotubes of 60 S cm⁻¹, was reduced after the coating, and again after the deprotonation, but maintained at a level above 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹. Infrared and Raman spectra reflect the presence of the polymer overlayer deposited on the polypyrrole template. Thermogravimetric analysis was used as a tool for the analytical carbonisation of samples in an inert nitrogen atmosphere. The conversion of conducting polymers to nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes was confirmed using Raman spectra.

Keywords: polyaniline – poly(p-phenylenediamine) – polypyrrole nanotubes – carbonisation – conductivity

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0152

Chemical Papers 69 (10) 1341–1349 (2015)