Synthesis and investigation on the mechanical properties of the polypyrrole film doped with p-toluene solfonate

In this paper, conducting polypyrrole (PPy) films doped with p-toluene solfonate (pTS) was electrochemically synthesized. The chemical groups of the sample were analysed by FT-IR, an in situ nanotribolab system together with the four-probe instrument were employed to investigate the mechanical and conductivity of the prepared films. The surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It demonstrates that the dopant anion was doped into the PPy while the overoxidation did not occur during the polymerization. The conductivity of PPy film is stable, during indentation, different loads were applied and hardness, elastic modulus were obtained. SEM images showed that the film is uniform. The characteristic microstructure of polypyrrole, the cauliflower-like, is appeared and the film is compact and homogeneous.