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    Electrochemical formation of N–substituted polypyrrole nanowires, microwires and open microtubes and their decoration with copper structures


    McCarthy, Conor P. and Herdman, Karen and Rooney, A. Denise and Alcock-Earley, Bernadette E. and Breslin, Carmel B. (2021) Electrochemical formation of N–substituted polypyrrole nanowires, microwires and open microtubes and their decoration with copper structures. Synthetic Metals, 280 (116881). ISSN 0379-6779

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    Abstract

    The substituted pyrrole monomer, N–(2–cyanoethyl)pyrrole, was electropolymerised in a 70% water and 30% ethanol solution with ClO4– and H2PO4– as the dopant species to give nanowires at short electropolymerisation times and microwires at longer deposition periods. On adding toluene to the electropolymerisation solution, hollow microtubes were formed. This was attributed to the adsorption of toluene droplets at the electrode surface which served to separate the dopants from the monomer, with the monomer being highly soluble in the toluene droplet and the inorganic dopants soluble in the water/ethanol mixture. As a result electropolymerisation was confined to the toluene-water/ethanol interface. These polymer systems exhibit redox activity with the oxidation wave centred at about 0.40 V vs SCE, and the broader reduction wave positioned between 0.75 V and 0.25 V vs SCE. Although N-substitution reduces the conductivity of the polymer, various copper deposits, including cubes, leaves and hierarchical structures were deposited at the microwires and microtubes using high overpotentials. The hierarchical structures were wrapped around the microtubes at considerable distances, typically 3–4 µm, from the substrate.

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: Funding: The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland (2007-DRP-1-S5), Science Foundation Ireland-funded National Access Programme (NAP 353 at Tyndall National Institute, Ireland) and the Irish Research Council (RS/2012/79).Cite as: Conor P. McCarthy, Karen M. Herdman, Denise Rooney, Bernadette Alcock-Earley, Carmel B. Breslin, Electrochemical formation of N–substituted polypyrrole nanowires, microwires and open microtubes and their decoration with copper structures, Synthetic Metals, Volume 280, 2021, 116881, ISSN 0379-6779, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synthmet.2021.116881. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379677921001879). Published under a Creative Commons license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    Keywords: N–substituted polypyrrole; N–(2–cyanoethyl)pyrrole; Nanowires; Microwires; Microtubes; Copper;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Chemistry
    Item ID: 15099
    Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synthmet.2021.116881
    Depositing User: Dr. Carmel Breslin
    Date Deposited: 07 Dec 2021 15:25
    Journal or Publication Title: Synthetic Metals
    Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
    Refereed: Yes
    Funders: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Irish Research Council (IRC)
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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