Synthesis of polypyrrole coatings on surface of iron particles

Abstract

AbstractA simple oxidative polymerization of pyrrole (Py) directly onto the surface of Fe microparticles was applied to enhance its mechanical properties and to increase the content of carbon in resulting material. The study is focused on investigation of the chemical synthesis of polypyrrole (PPy) coatings on the surface of iron particles, and their effect on the internal and surface structure. Moreover, the effect of PPy coating on the compressibility of coated Fe powder is analyzed. Namely, a set of specimens was uniaxially pressed in a steel die. Compaction pressures ranged from 100 up to 600 MPa. To quantify the compressibility of powders, the compressibility equation proposed by Panelli and Ambrosio Filho has been. It was found that PPy coating has a positive effect on the compaction behavior of iron powders.Detection and quantification of the PPy coatings obtained were performed by means of pyrolysis gas chromatography (Py‐GC). Both the light optical and scanning electron microscopy (LOM, SEM) were used to characterize the morphology and surface appearance of samples coated with PPy. It was found that the content of PPy in final powder material can be controlled by conditions of chemical oxidative polymerization process. The surface morphology of powder particles coated with PPy layers was changed in compliance with PPy content. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.