A New Approach to the Synthesis of Poly[Pyrrole-co-Vanillin] Semiconductor Polymer Doped with FeCl3

Conductive polymer-based applications offer several advantages, such as low cost, simple manufacturing procedures, flexibility, and other desirable properties. However, the low viscosity and solubility of these polymers make it challenging to produce layers using industrial techniques. Some commonly used conjugated conductive organic polymers include polyacetylene, polythiophene, polypyrrole, and polyaniline, among others. To expand their potential in further applications, new copolymers of vanillin and pyrrole were synthesized and characterized using various techniques, such as NMR, FTIR, UV, TGA, and electrical characterization. The optical properties of these copolymers were studied after doping using oxidation-reduction reactions with FeCl 3 to understand their redox behavior. The energy gap of the studied polymers was calculated and found to increase with the oxidation agent doping according to their oxidation potential. The cationic copolymer with Maghnite-H + had an energy gap of 0.92 eV, while the copolymer doped with FeCl 3 had an energy gap of 1.13 eV. This analysis clearly demonstrates that PPHMB is a semiconducting polymer.