Synthesis and application of conducting graft copolymer with viable processability

A soluble and processable conducting copolymer, poly(acrylonitrile-co-vinyl acetate)-graft-polypyrrole, noted as P(AN-co-VA)-g-PPY, has been synthesized successfully by graft polymerization of pyrrole in a colloid of P(AN-co-VA) within DMF/HCl solution. FTIR, 1HNMR, EPR, DSC, GPC and elemental analysis results confirm that the polypyrrole side chains have grown onto P(AN-co-VA) chain backbones and the maximum PPY content reached 15.46 wt% under the experimental conditions. The conducting P(AN-co-VA)-g-PPY copolymer can be dissolved in organic solvents and easily processed to the film with strong stretching strength as high as 30 MPa and high conductivity as high as 10−1 S/cm. By control of the amounts of P(AN-co-VA) and pyrrole, the property adjustment between electronic conductivity and stretching strength of P(AN-co-VA)-g-PPY film can be achieved, which is of signality for different practice applications. As an example, the noble metal microstructures including tortuous Ag wire and hierarchically hedgehog-like Au sphere have been obtained via a reduction of silver nitrate or hydrogen tetrachloroaurate using the as-prepared conducting film without any additives, which may open up a thinking room for us to search new microstructures and new materials.