Growth Patterns of Dendrimers and Electric Potential Oscillations during Electropolymerization of Pyrrole using Mono- and Mixed Surfactants

Fractal and dendrimer growth patterns of polypyrrole were obtained during electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole in systems (A) pyrrole-sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaDS)-water and (B) pyrrole-NaDS-cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)-water. Different morphological transitions including compact → flower-like and fractal → dendrimer → fractal were observed depending on experimental conditions. Growth kinetics during electropolymerization of pyrrole was studied. Growth rate was found to be higher in system A than in B. Effect of [NaDS], [pyrrole], and field intensity on morphology and weight of polymer aggregates was also studied in both the systems. Different empirical equations were obeyed under different conditions. Electropolymerized aggregates were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrical conductivity measurement, and reflectance spectroscopy. TEM studies revealed that the particle size decreased to ∼140-200 nm in the presence of CTAB. The decrease in particle size on addition of CTAB was also observed in XRD studies. Reflectance spectra of the polymer aggregates support the large π-conjugation in the dendrimer. During electropolymerization, oscillations in potential were monitored as a function of time. Results indicated that growth pattern and electric potential oscillations were interrelated. In the case of fractal growth, the amplitude of chaotic oscillation was higher than the amplitude of oscillation during the growth of dendrimer. Growth morphologies and electric potential oscillations have been explained on the basis of modified Diaz's mechanism.

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