Fabrication of conducting polypyrrole film with microlens arrays by combination of breath figures and replica molding methods

Novel conducting polypyrrole (PPy) films with microlens arrays (MLAs) were successfully fabricated by combination of breath figures (BFs) and replica molding methods. Polycarbonate (PC) molds prepared by BFs method contain concave cavities with a diameter of about 3–4 μm and a depth of about 2.5 μm in the center of the cavity as were revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). PPy MLAs were achieved by the chemically oxidative polymerization of pyrrole on the surface of PC molds initiated by FeCl3 and subsequent removal of PC molds with CHCl3. The PPy MLAs possess well-ordered convex with a height of about 2.1 μm in the center of the microlens as revealed by SEM and AFM, which is highly related to the morphology of PC molds. In addition, the effect of the polymerization time of pyrrole on the electrical conductivity of the resulting patterned PPy films was investigated by standard four probe technique.