Li X., Maladier-Jugroot C.
Royal Military College of Canada, CA
Keywords: confinement effect, polymeric nanotemplates, polypyrrole
cations (1-2). Polypyrrole is one of the most studied conducting polymers due to its good electrical conductivity, environmental stability and relatively easy synthesis (3-6). Earlier we reported an innovative way of synthesizing polypyrrole within nanotemplates in aqueous solution with controlled morphology (7,8). When immersed in the template, pyrrole molecules polymerize in the hydrophobic cavity, with no external inductions. The soft templates provide a confined environment for the synthesis where the reaction did not occur in bulk solution. In previous study, a thorough ab initio quantum chemical study of the polymerisation mechanism calculated the structures and the energies of the essential intermediates and products. This study proved that water was crucial in activation and the polymerization process. However, the role of confinement effect remains unanswered. The aim of this study is to confirm the theoretical results using experimental characterizations such as UV-vis, IR spectroscopy and TEM. The present paper will also present the role of confinement effect by studying the reaction in similar system of different dimensions.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 1, Nanotechnology 2011: Advanced Materials, CNTs, Particles, Films and Composites
Published: June 13, 2011
Pages: 16 - 19
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topic: Materials Characterization & Imaging
ISBN: 978-1-4398-7142-3