Preparation of conductive polypyrrole-polystyrene sulfonate by chemical polymerization

A new method for the chemical preparation of conductive polypyrrole-polystyrene sulfonate (PPy-PSS) using FeCl3 as oxidant is proposed. The method is based on the different precipitation rates of the two PPy-based polymers: PPy-PSS and polypyrrole-chloride (PPy-Cl). Thus, by choosing a short reaction time (a few minutes) pure PPy-PSS, free of conductive PPy-Cl, is obtained after filtration. The presence of meta-hydroxy benzoic acid in the reaction medium allows shorter reaction times to be used, and higher yield values of conductive material to be obtained.