INFRARED INVESTIGATIONS OF PRISTINE, DOPED AND PARTIALLY DOPED POLYPYRROLE

It is well known that pristine (i.e. undoped) polypyrrole is not air-stable. As a result, it is difficult to obtain spectral data for the pristine polymer. Indeed, there are only two reports of infrared (IR) absorption spectra for the pristine material in the literature and, in both cases, the polymer seems to have undergone some air oxidation. It would be highly desirable to have reliable and reproducible IR spectra for the pristine form of this important polymer. We have designed a novel IR spectroelectrochemical cell which allows for electrochemical synthesis and IR and electrochemical analyses of thin polypyrrole films, while rigorously protecting these films from air. We present the IR spectra obtained using this cell for doped, partially doped and pristine polypyrrole.