Fabrication of Unagglomerated Polypyrrole Nanospheres with Controlled Sizes From a Surfactant-Free Emulsion System

Abstract

We developed a very simple, template-free, and environmentally friendly one-step chemical synthesis route to fabricate unagglomerated polypyrrole (PPy) nanospheres. The proposed new fabrication method enables the production of size-controlled unagglomerated PPy nanospheres without the help of any supporting materials such as "hard" and "soft" templates and under mild conditions, viz., room temperature, atmospheric pressure, and no need for acid. From the theoretical calculation, we could find that our novel system was suitable to prepare the unagglomerated PPy spheres. The process is discussed on the basis the classical colloidal and microemulsion theory.

Morphology control of conducting polypyrrole nanostructures via operational conditions in the emulsion polymerization

“…In this regard, dispersions of PPy nanoparticles can be used in molecular electronics and microelectronic circuits whereas nanosized particles lead to better processability of PPy. A variety of methods to produce ICP nanomaterials have been reported such as in situ chemical oxidative polymerization, electrochemical polymerization, templates, electrospinning, interfacial polymerization, self‐assembly, seeding growth, oligomer‐assisted polymerization, and emulsion polymerization . Among these approaches, emulsion polymerization technique has attracted considerable interest due to its procedure simplicity .…”

“…Moreover, the shape of micelles depends on the surfactant type and operational conditions . Nowadays, PPy nanostructures have been prepared using various surfactants and different initiators to investigate the effect of type and concentration of different initial components on the morphology of nanostructured PPy . Also, the effect of dopant and other additives on the conductivity and processability of resulted PPy has been investigated …”

Bulk synthesis, optimization, and characterization of highly dispersible polypyrrole nanoparticles toward protein separation using nanocomposite membranes

“…In order to improve its processability and widen the applications, considerable effort has been devoted to produce colloidal PPy nanoparticles with controllable size, shape, composition, and surface chemistry. Examples include emulsion [17], interfacial [18], dispersion [19], template [20], and plasma polymerizations [21]. The emulsion, interfacial, and dispersion polymerizations use surfactants or bulky steric stabilizers to prevent nanoparticle aggregation caused by charge interaction.…”

Unimodal sized silica nanocapsules produced through water-in-oil emulsions prepared by sequential irradiation of kilo- and submega-hertz ultrasounds

“…Additives (e.g., electrolytes, surfactants, and polymers) and oils (due to their viscosity, specic gravity, and dielectric constant) are used to stabilize emulsions. Although surfactants can be used to improve colloidal stability, surfactant-free emulsions 40,41 eliminate the need for surfactant removal; thus, simplifying the preparation process.…”