Inherently conducting polypyrrole constitutes a novel class of materials. The characterization of PPy is difficult because it is insoluble in conventional solvents, infusible, brittle, and amorphous, which limits its fabrication and processibility. A chromatographic method is developed for the characterization of the morphology and the surface thermodynamics of polypyrrole chloride, PPyCl, using inverse gas chromatography method. The interaction of twenty-five pure solvents with different chemical nature with PPyCl was investigated. Thermal isotherms were generated from the chromatographic quantities known as retention diagrams for each solvent. They suggested that the surface of PPyCl is heterogeneous below 120 oC and the thermodynamics is amenable for calculations above this temperature. The solvents' interaction, the molar heat of adsorption, and the mixing of these solvents with PPyCl surface revealed systematic information about the strength of the interactions and the miscibility of these solvents with PPyCl.

Surface thermodynamics and solubility characterization of conducting polymers by inverse gas chromatography: Polypyrrole chloride

244th National Meeting (2012)

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