Surface Characterization and Morphology of Conducting Polypyrrole Thin Films during Polymer Growth on ITO Glass Electrode

Abstract

Statistical, morphological, and fractal analyses of the conducting polypyrrole (PPy) thin films during polymer growth on the indium tin oxide (ITO) glass electrode were investigated. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to synthesize polymer thin films with different thicknesses and for calculation of fractal dimensions (Df). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a powerful technique was employed to statistically study and analyze the morphology of different types of thin film surfaces with parameters such as root mean square (RMS), kurtosis (Ku), skewness (Sk), and Df. In calculating the fractal dimensions from AFM images of different thin films, power spectral density, perimeter–area, and box-counting methods were used. The results show that the fractal dimensions increased with increasing thicknesses of the films. RMS, Ku, and Sk parameters of the films were changed with increasing film thicknesses. Moreover, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis technique confirmed the process of growing polymers on polycrystalline...