Interpenetrating organic conducting polymer composites based on polyaniline and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) from sequential electropolymerization

A Comparative Study of Biomimetic Synthesis of EDOT-Pyrrole and EDOT-Aniline Copolymers by Peroxidase-like Catalysts: Towards Tunable Semiconductive Organic Materials

It has been two decades since biomimetic synthesis of conducting polymers were first reported, however, the systematic investigation of how catalysts influence the properties of the conducting polymers has not been reported yet. In this paper, we report a comparative study between peroxidase-like catalyst, dopants, and their effect on the properties of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), polypyrrole (PPY), and polyaniline (PANI). We also investigate the EDOT-Pyrrole and EDOT-Aniline copolymerization by enzymomimetic synthesis using two catalysts (Ferrocene and Hematin). It was found that, chemically, there are no detectable effects, only having small contributions in molar ratios greater than 0.7–0.3. Spectroscopic data provide solid evidence concerning the effect in the variation of the molar fractions, finding that, as the molar fraction of EDOT decreases, changes associated with loss of the conjugation of the structure and the oxidation state of the chains were observed. The electrical conductivity was considerably modified depending on the type of catalyst. Hematin produces conductive homopolymers and copolymers when doped with p-toluene sulfonic acid (TSA), while ferrocene produces low conductive copolymers under the same conditions. The mole fraction affects conductivity significantly, showing that as the EDOT fraction decreases, the conductivity drops drastically for both EDOT-PY and EDOT-ANI copolymers. The type of dopant also notably affects conductivity; the best values were obtained by doping with TSA, while the lowest were obtained when doping with polystyrene sulfonate (PSS). We also draw a biomimetic route to tailor the fundamental properties of conducting homopolymers and copolymers for their design and scaled-up production, as they have recently been found to have use in a broad range of applications.

In situ preparation and determination of electrochemical and electrochromic properties of copper phthalocyanine-polyaniline nanocomposite films

Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) films with different morphologies were electrodeposited on the surfaces of ITO electrodes. Then, in each case, a polyaniline (PANI) film was electrochemically polymerized in situ on the surface of the copper phthalocyanine film to form a CuPc-PANI composite film. The electrochemical properties of the CuPc-PANI composite film were observed to be much better than those of the film without CuPc. With the modification involving the CuPc nanowires, the composite film formed a finer particle surface and an increased interface area between the PANI and the electrolyte. Compared to the single-component PANI film, the CuPc-PANI composite film exhibited better performance with a higher optical contrast (58% at 730 nm), a faster response speed (coloring time of 1.02 s, discoloring time of 1.96 s), and better cycling stability (68.71% of the initial electrochemical activity after 500 cycles, in contrast to only about 48.02% for PANI). Moreover, the CuPc-PANI film shows a new feature that can be used as a supercapacitor (specifically a capacitance value of about 5.4 mF cm⁻² at typical currents). Our results demonstrate that the prepared CuPc-PANI composite film is one of the best candidates for multiple potential applications such as high-performance polymer electrochromic materials and supercapacitors.

A CuPc-PANI composite film with good electrochromic properties and obvious pseudocapacitance performance was successfully prepared using in situ electrochemical methods.

Copolymer formation of 4-vinylbenzyl-9H-carbazole-9-carbodithioate and ethylenedioxythiophene and capacitive behavior

In this study, first, a new monomer of 4-vinylbenzyl 9 H-carbazole-9-carbodithioate (VBzCzCT) was chemically synthesized and characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) reflectance, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) spectroscopies. Second, VBzCzCT and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomers were electrocopolymerized (VBzCzCT- co-EDOT) in 0.1 M sodium perchlorate (NaClO4)/acetonitrile (CH3CN) on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using cyclic voltammetry (CV). Third, the best deposition conditions on the electroactivity of the modified homopolymers and copolymer were studied and characterized using different techniques such as CV, FTIR-attenuated total reflectance, scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersion x-ray analysis, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The specific capacitance ( Csp) of poly(VBzCzCT) (P(VBzCzCT)) was obtained as 20.5 mF cm−2. However, the Csp of P(VBzCzCT- co-EDOT)/GCE was obtained as 45.5 mF cm−2. There is an important improvement in the capacitance value of copolymer formation. The Csp value increases more than twice from P(VBzCzCT) to copolymer. The highest double layer capacitance ( Cdl = approximately 27.5 mF cm−2) was obtained for P(VBzCzCT- co-EDOT) and P(EDOT) compared with P(VBzCzCT) ( Cdl = approximately 8.28 mF cm−2. Finally, simulation graphs of Nyquist, Bode-magnitude, and Bode-phase plots were given for homopolymers and copolymer for the electrical equivalent circuit model of Rs( Q1( R1( C1( R2( C2( R3· W))))))( C3 R4). The EIS results of P(VBzCzCT), P(EDOT), and P(VBzCzCT- co-EDOT) might be studied as promising active electrode materials for (super)capacitor evaluations.