Electrically conductive graft copolymers of poly(methyl methacrylate) with varying polypyrrole and poly(3-alkylpyrroles) contents

Abstract

Pyrrole and 3-alkylpyrroles were grafted via chemical oxidative polymerisation with FeCl3 to copolymers of methyl methacrylate and ω-(N-pyrrolyl)alkyl methacrylates incorporating varying amounts of ω-(N-pyrrolyl)alkyl methacrylates with varying alkyl chain lengths. The electrical conductivity of the resultant graft copolymers attained 10-4-10-3 S cm-1, with the length of the alkyl spacers in ω-(N-pyrrolyl)alkyl methacrylates having little influence on the conductivity. A longer alkyl spacer, however, resulted in a lower glass transition temperature for the resulting graft copolymers. The graft copolymers from pyrrole were insoluble whilst those arising from 3-alkylpyrroles were completely soluble in common organic solvents even in their doped states.