Polyaniline and Polypyrrole Templated on Self-Assembled Acidic Block Copolymers

A method was developed for utilizing block copolymers that combine an acidic block, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPSA), and an acrylate block, n-butyl, ethyl, or methyl acrylate, as templates for acid-doped conducting polymers such as polyaniline (PANI) or polypyrrole (PPY). PANI templated with diblock copolymers dissolved in dichloroacetic acid results in the formation of high-conductivity materials (30 S/cm) that possess a greater degree of flexibility than pure PANI (between 20% and 50% elongation at ∼4 MPa). Triblock copolymers were used as templates for the oxidative polymerization of PANI and PPY to form in situ conducting polymer composites with conductivities of ∼0.1 S/cm.