Synthesis and dispersion of polypyrrole nanoparticles in polyvinylpyrrolidone emulsion

Monodisperse particles of conducting polypyrrole (PPy) were directly synthesized in large quantities by emulsion polymerization with FeCl3 in organic solvents in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The particles were almost spherical form capped with PVP and their sizes ranged from 30 to 60 nm with a narrow size distribution when molecular weight of PVP was 3700k. The particle sizes were decreased with an increase in molecular weight of PVP: as molecular weight is increased from 40k to 3600k, the size is decreased from 90–110 to 60–80 nm, respectively. These PPy particles are easily dispersed in organic solvents such as water, methanol, butanol isopropanol and these solutions can also be blended with organic binder polymers by casting for film formation. The conductivity of pelletized PPy particles was 10–15 S/cm.