Chemical and electrochemical grafting of polypyrrole onto thiophene-functionalized polystyrene macromonomer

In this paper, chemical and electrochemical graft copolymerization of pyrrole onto thiophene-functionalized polystyrene multicenter macromonomer (ThPStM) is described. The polystyrene-g-polypyrrole (PSt-g-PPy) obtained was characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and its electroactivity behavior was verified under cyclic voltammetric conditions in acetonitrile (ACN)–tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate (TEAFB) solvent–electrolyte couple and compared with electroactivity behavior of pure polypyrrole. Electrical conductivities of the samples were measured using samples in which the conductive materials were sandwiched between two Ni electrodes at room temperature. The chemical composition and molecular weight of the PSt-g-PPy graft copolymer were determined by means of elemental analysis, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), respectively. Moreover, thermal behaviors of the synthesized polymers were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).