Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.51, No.8, 1513-1518, 2011
Conduction Behavior in Ionic Liquids Assisted Electrodeposited Polypyrrole Layers
The electropolymerization of pyrrole in ionic liquid media was carried out to produce an adherent, uniform, and durable polypyrrole (PPy) films with enhanced electrical properties. A threefold increase in the conductivity value can be attained with the selective choice of polymerizing media and ambient temperature dc conductivity value of 43, 15, and 13 S cm(-1) for films grown in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(perfluoroethanesulfonyl) imide, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate and in lithium triflate in acetonitrile respectively. The corresponding localization lengths were found to be 17, 33, and 48 nm indicate that carriers are strongly localized. At low temperature, all three types of PPy films show metallic type behavior. Though transition is observed above 200 K for all the three films, the charge transport mechanism remains unaltered at higher temperatures for the films grown in ionic liquids, while the film grown in lithium triflate in acetonitrile assumes a three-dimensional variable range hopping conduction behavior. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 51: 1513-1518, 2011. (C) 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers