Fabrication and characterization of conductive polypyrrole thin film prepared by in situ vapor-phase polymerization

The conductive thin films of ferric chloride doped polypyrrole (PPy) were obtained by in situ vapor-phase polymerization method under ambient conditions. Homogeneous and thin conductive PPy films were uniformly fabricated at nano-level thickness on the plastic film substrates by continuous roll process. The conductivity of the films typically 600 nm thick rapidly increases with the increasing deposition time of the pyrrole monomer (up to 6×102 S/cm). These films have good electromagnetic shielding and microwave absorption properties. The change of light-transmittance follows a sine curve with the variation of the PPy film thickness. The transmittance of the film increased with thickness from 35 to 45 nm (max. 90%) and decreased with thickness from 55 to 65 nm (min. 60%). Highly ordered conductive PPy surfaces were observed by an atomic force microscopy (AFM).