New sulfonated pyrrole and pyrrole 3-carboxylic acid copolymer membranes via track-etched templates

New copolymers of polypyrrole and poly(3-carboxylic acid pyrrole) have been synthesized via a diaphragmatic method using a track-etched polycarbonate matrix. The presence of carboxylic acid substituents enables the introduction of new functionalities such as sulfonate groups. The resulting copolymer membranes with tubules microstructure have been characterized through scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and FT-IR. By SEM, it was observed that ion-track trajectories can cross. XPS, ToF-SIMS and FT-IR spectroscopy showed that it was possible to attach other molecules to the membrane. The polypyrrole copolymer membranes have exceptional thermal stabilities, with decomposition observed at 900 °C.