Self-suspended polypyrrole with liquid crystal property

Abstract

Polypyrrole (PPy) has attracted wide attention due to its high conductivity, environmental stability, low cost, facile synthesis and doping. However, the rigid backbone and π-conjugation structure of polypyrrole lead to the poor solubility and processability and thus restricting its applications. In this letter, self-suspended PPy was obtained by using a long-chain protonic acid CH3(CH2)8C6H4(OCH2-CH2)10SO3H (NPES) as dopant and then through a common dialysis. Such unique structured PPy is a kind of solvent-free fluid which can flow at or near room temperature. The solubility and processability of self-suspended polypyrrole have been improved effectively due to the introduction of oxyethylene groups and alkyl group. And it also directly presents unique liquid crystal property. Moreover, the self-suspended polypyrrole exhibited a relatively high electrical conductivity reached up to 0.11 S/m, presenting a typical characteristic of the semiconductor. Such self-suspended polypyrrole could be a promising alternative in the field of lightweight battery, super capacitor and metal anti-corrosion.