Morphological and chemical stabilities of polypyrrole in aqueous media for 1 year

Stearic Acid as Polymerization Medium, Dopant and Hydrophobizer: Chemical Oxidative Polymerization of Pyrrole

In recent years, fatty acids have garnered significant attention as a natural phase-change material and a hydrophobizer due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this study, the utilization of fatty acid is proposed as a polymerization medium for the first time. As a specific reaction, chemical oxidative polymerizations of pyrrole is conducted using ferric chloride as an oxidant in a stearic acid medium. The polymerizations resulted in the production of micrometer-sized polypyrrole (PPy) grains, which are aggregates of atypical primary particles with submicrometer size. The PPy grains are doped with stearic acid, suggesting that the stearic acid functioned as a dopant and a hydrophobizing agent as well as a polymerization medium. The dried PPy grains can adsorb at the air-water interface and function as a liquid marble stabilizer with light-to-heat photothermal properties. The liquid marble can move on a planar air-water interface by Marangoni flow induced by NIR laser light irradiation.

Colloidally Stable Polypyrrole Nanoparticles Synthesized by Surfactant-Free Coupling Polymerization

Surfactant-free polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles, which were colloidally stable in aqueous medium, were successfully synthesized by coupling polymerization of pyrrole using Fe(NO3)3 solids in the absence of any colloidal stabilizer. The pyrrole monomers were gradually supplied from the vapor phase, and the coupling reaction of the monomers could proceed to generate PPy in a water medium. The resulting PPy nanoparticles were extensively characterized in terms of diameter, bulk chemical composition, surface chemistry, and colloidal stability by dynamic light scattering, electron microscopy, elemental microanalysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, electrophoresis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The characterization results indicated that the PPy nanoparticles can be colloidally stable based on the electrostatic stabilization mechanism due to cationic charges generated on the PPy molecules by doping during the polymerization. General chemical oxidative polymerization in aqueous medium using the Fe(NO3)3 oxidant without a colloidal stabilizer as a control experiment resulted in generation of atypical PPy aggregates with over a micrometer size, indicating that the polymerization at low ionic strength is essential for colloidal particle formation. Finally, it was demonstrated that the PPy nanoparticles worked as a surfactant-free black-colored particulate emulsifier by adsorption at the oil-water interface to stabilize Pickering-type oil-in-water emulsions.

Synthesis and validation of ultrasensitive stripping voltammetric sensor based on polypyrrole@ZnO/Fe3O4 core-shell nanostructure for picomolar detection of artesunate and dopamine drugs

A stripping voltammetric sensor for ultrasensitive detection of artesunate (ART) and dopamine HCl (DA) has been successfully developed using a Ppy@ZnO/Fe₃O₄ core-shell nanocomposite ([PZM])-modified carbon paste sensor (MCPS). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area method, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of the nanomaterials. Noteworthily, the morphology of [PZM] reveals a spherical core-shell nanostructure with an increase in the average diameter range of 20-37.5 nm (specific surface area (SSA) of 28.5 m² g^-1 (0.0247 cm³ g^-1)) when compared with the average diameter range 7.5-15.7 nm (SSA of 5.43 m² g^-1 (0.0111 cm³ g^-1)) of ZnO/Fe₃O₄[ZM]. The [PZM] MCPS provided the best electroactive surface area (0.078 cm²) and the least electrocatalytic activity (R_st = 370 Ω). Furthermore, the MCPS showed low detection limits (LODs) of 0.092 pg mL^-1 (0.24 pM) and 0.0046 pg mL^-1 (0.03 pM) for ART and DA, respectively. Moreover, LODs were found to be 0.029 pg mL^-1 (0.75 pM) and 0.014 pg mL^-1 (0.09 pM) for ART mixed with 0.7 pM of DA (ART₁) and DA in the presence of 2.0 pM of ART drug (DA₁), respectively. In addition, the MCPS revealed a proper repeatability, reproducibility, and storage stability (93.5-90.48%). During the routine analysis, the [PZM] MCPS detected ART and DA concentrations in human urine, without interference.

Synthesis of Polypyrrole and Its Derivatives as a Liquid Marble Stabilizer via a Solvent-Free Chemical Oxidative Polymerization Protocol

Solvent-free chemical oxidative polymerizations of pyrrole and its derivatives, namely N-methylpyrrole and N-ethylpyrrole, were conducted by mechanical mixing of monomer and solid FeCl₃ oxidant under nitrogen atmosphere. Polymerizations occurred at the surface of the oxidant, and optical and scanning electron microscopy studies confirmed production of atypical grains with diameters of a few tens of micrometers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies indicated the presence of hydroxy and carbonyl groups which were introduced during the polymerization due to overoxidation. The polymer grains were doped with chloride ions, and the chloride ion dopant could be removed by dedoping using an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, which was confirmed by elemental microanalysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies. Water contact angle measurements confirmed that the larger the alkyl group on the nitrogen of pyrrole ring the higher the hydrophobicity and that the contact angles increased after dedoping in all cases. The grains before and after dedoping exhibited photothermal properties: the near-infrared laser irradiation induced a rapid temperature increase to greater than 430 °C. Furthermore, dedoped poly(N-ethylpyrrole) grains adsorbed to the air-water interface and could work as an effective liquid marble stabilizer. The resulting liquid marble could move on a planar water surface due to near-infrared laser-induced Marangoni flow and could disintegrate by exposure to acid vapor via redoping of the poly(N-ethylpyrrole) grains.