Electrochemical synthesis of new conducting copolymers containing pseudo-polyether cages with pyrrole

Conducting copolymers have been synthesized via electrochemical oxidation of pyrrole (Py) in the presence of monomer 1,11-bis(1,1-pyrrole)-3,6,9-trioxaundecane (I) in an electrolytic solution containing 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6) dissolved in acetonitrile. It is observed that reversible redox behavior of poly(I-co-Py)s shifts to more positive potentials with the increasing amount of I in the comonomer mixture, indicating formation of a copolymer. It is also found that increasing the ratio of I in the comonomer mixture decreases the conductivity of the obtained polymer films. The dark electrical conductivity measurements in the temperature range of 300–100 K revealed the extrinsic type of conduction with activation energy values being in the range of 82.3–16.9 meV.