Synthesis and formation condition study on the dye-doped polypyrrole micro/nanotubules

Polypyrrole (PPy) micro/nanotubules were synthesized via a self-assembly method using 5-(acetylamino)-4-hydroxy-3-(phenylazo)-2, 7-naphthalenedisulfonic acid (acid red G) as the dopant and FeCl3 as the oxidant and were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD and FT-IR spectra. These PPy tubules doped with acid red G showed 100~910 nm in diameter and longer than 50 μm in average length. XRD spectra indicated that the prepared PPy micro/nanotubules were amorphous. Various experimental conditions, including the reaction time and temperature, the concentration of pyrrole monomer, the concentration ratio between the dopant and pyrrole monomer, and rate of addition of oxidant have been investigated for their influences on the morphology of the synthesized PPy tubules. Based on the research results, the optimized synthesis condition for the PPy tubules was obtained.