Electrochemically initiated chain polymerization of pyrrole in aqueous media

Abstract

Abstract The electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance has been employed to investigate the electropolymerization of pyrrole in a variety of aqueous electrolytes. In contrast to the generally accepted cation–radical coupling process for the electropolymerization of pyrrole, an electrochemically initiated chain polymerization, featuring a high polymerization rate and involving little charge transport, was found under specific conditions in the presence of ClO − 4 , BF − 4 , and PF − 6 electrolytes. The more typical cation‐radical coupling mechanism, characterized by a constant polymerization charge to mass deposited ratio, is observed in the presence of Cl − , NO − 3 , dodecyl sulfate, copper phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate, β‐cyclodextrin tetradecasulfate, and poly(styrene sulfonate). Electrochemical characterizations of polypyrrole films prepared in aqueous ClO − 4 electrolytes reveal that the polymer formed via chain polymerization exhibits the ability to transport both cations and anions during electrochemical switching between redox states, while the polymer synthesized through cation‐radical coupling is only capable of transporting a single ionic species.