Versatile method for synthesis of electrically conductive polypyrrole-polystyrene clay nanocomposites using ATRP and chemical polymerisation methods

Figures & data

Scheme 1. Mechanism of atom transfer radical polymerisation.

Scheme 2. The route of the preparation of Ps-g-Ppy.

Scheme 3. Preparation of α-chlorophenyl acetyl pyrrole.

Scheme 4. Preparation of Ps-ph-Ac-Py via ATRP method.

Scheme 5. Chemical preparation of Ps-g-Ppy.

Figure 1. GPC trace of polystyrene phenyl acetyl pyrrole.

Table 1. GPC of polystyrene phenyl acetyl pyrrole.

Molecular weight	Ps-g-Ppy
Mn	21,800
Mw	15,352
Polydispersity	1.42

Figure 2. FT-IR spectrum of α-chlorophenyl acetyl pyrrole (a) polystyrene phenyl acetyl pyrrole (b) and spectrum of polystyrene-g-polypyrrole (c).

Figure 3. ¹H-NMR spectrum of polystyrene phenyl acetyl pyrrole.

Table 2. Electrical conductivity of PPy and Ps-g-Ppy.

Per cent weight of Py	Conductivity (s/cm)
100	80
80.77	0.81
42.86	0.062
25.92	0.0054

Figure 4. XRD image of Ps-g-Ppy nanocomposite.

Figure 5. TEM image of Ps-g-Ppy nanocomposite.

Figure 6. DSC image of Ps-g-Ppy nanocomposite.

Figure 7. The TGA image of the montmorilonite (MMT) (a), PSt-co-PPy/MMT nanocomposite (b), PSt-co-PPy (c).

Table 3. Solubility of the PS-g-Ppy samples in common organic solvents.

Polymer	CH2Cl2	THF	CHCl3	Cyclohexane	DMSO	DMF
25% PPy	++	++	++	+	−	−
42% PPy	+	+	+	−	−	−
80% PPy	−	−	−	−	−	−

Note: ++, soluble; +, slightly soluble; −, insoluble. CH₂Cl₂, dichloromethane; THF, tetrahydrofuran; CHCl₃, chloroform; DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; DMF, dimethyl formamide. The concentration used in the solubility test was 10 mg of polymer in 1 mL solvent.