Fabrication of silica core–conductive polymer polypyrrole shell composite particles and polypyrrole capsule on monodispersed silica templates

Abstract

Silica core–polypyrrole shell composite particles were fabricated by chemical polymerization of pyrrole monomer on the surface of the silica spheres. The steric agent poly( N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) was used as anchor-molecule between core and polymer monomer during the polymerization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that the polypyrrole (PPy) shell is uniformly coated over the silica surface. Furthermore, conductive polypyrrole hollow capsules were obtained after the removal of the core. In addition, the macromolecule PVP was retained in the capsules detected by UV-Vis spectra. The size of the core–shell particles and the thickness of the capsules are dependent on the size of silica template as well as the weight ratio of [silica spheres template]/[pyrrole monomer].