Polypyrrole (PPy) chemical synthesis with xylan in aqueous medium and production of highly conducting PPy/nanofibrillated cellulose films and coatings

Abstract

Polypyrrole was chemically synthesised by using, for the first time, Birchwood xylan as additive, and ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS) as oxidant. The impact of additive concentration, polymerisation time and reagents concentration on PPy conductivity was studied. It was shown that, once fixed the pyrrole (Py)/ APS and Py/xylan optimal ratios, the best conductivities (26 S/cm) were obtained for short polymerisation times (30 min) and increased reactants concentration. Morphological analysis of PPy particles, Py depletion kinetics and oxido-reduction potential measurements of the solutions provided interpretation elements on the impact of the polymerisation time on PPy pellet conductivity. Furthermore, optimised PPy particles obtained with xylan (PPy x ) were mixed with nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) in order to obtain freestanding films. Their electrical and handling performances were evaluated at increasing PPy weight fraction in the samples. The conductivity mechanism of the most conductive sample (in comparison with a low performing sample) was investigated by measuring the conductivity as a function of temperature (4-350 K) and two transport regimes were identified. Selected formulations were finally used to produce conducting PPy/NFC coatings on non-absorbent (glass) and absorbent (copy paper) substrates. The impact of NFC in the percolation of PPy particles, then in the coating conductivity, was investigated.

Advanced Materials through Assembly of Nanocelluloses

“…Also their surfaces are smoother, which can be important, e.g., for high definition of linewidths in printed devices. Nanopapers can be furnished also by a wealth of other functional properties, like barrier properties to reduce vapour permeation, fire‐retardancy, magnetic properties, and electrical conductivity . Among the potential applications, we foresee that nanopaper device substrates for flexible transparent devices are particularly promising.…”

Emulsion-polymerized flexible semi-conducting CNCs–PANI–DBSA nanocomposite films

“…It is also possible that the difference in molecular weights of synthesized polyaniline (at different preparation conditions) contribute to the differences in thermal properties. This behaviour was also observed for DBSA-doped polyaniline nanoparticles prepared by reverse micelle polymerization at different DBSA concentrations, 31 and for other conducting polymeric systems such as polypyrrole, 32 where the authors reported that further insertion of dopant molecules within PPy chains created a steric barrier for the charge carrier movement between PPy particles. The interdependence between CNCs concentration and conductivity of the nanocomposite films is explored in Fig.…”

The Comparative Study on Vapor‐Polymerization and Pressure‐dependent Conductance Behavior in Polypyrrole‐hybridized Membranes

“…Conducting polymers have drawn great attention because of their useful electrical and optical properties which are mainly governed by the delocalized π‐electrons and dopants in the polymer backbone . Additionally, light weight, flexibility, scalable synthesis, and facile processability enable conducting polymers to emerge as an ideal candidate for versatile applications such as wearable electronics, flexible displays, photovoltaics, and so on . Polypyrrole (PPy) is one of the most intensively studied conjugated polymers .…”