Effect of doping anions on the degradation of electrochemical activity of conductive polypyrrole in NaOH solution

The effect of doping anions on the degradation of electrochemical activity of polypyrrole (PPy)/A (A: SO42−, pTS−, PSS−, and GO) films in NaOH is investigated by various electrochemical methods and microscopic analyses. The degradation rates of PPy/A films follow first-order kinetics. The PPy/SO4 and PPy/GO films have two degradation stages with higher rate constants (k), while the PPy/pTS and PPy/PSS films just show one degradation stage with much lower k values. The exchange ability of doping anions with OH− and the penetration of OH− into the inner film are two crucial factors for the degradation of PPy in NaOH.