MECHANISMS OF THE CHEMICAL AND ELECTROCHEMICAL POLYMERIZATIONS OF PYRROLE COMPARED BY PRODUCT SPECTROMETRY AND CONDUCTIVITY LOSS EFFECTED BY PYRIDINE INHIBITION OR BY OVER-OXIDATION

Polypyrroles whether electrochemically or chemically prepared show nearly identical ir and XPS spectra. Furthermore, they undergo losses of conductivity when over-oxidized by respectively electrochemical or chemicl oxidation, or if prepared (chemically or electrochemically) in the presence of pyridine. The mechanism proposed for the pyridine inhibition of the electropolymerization is in consequence suggested to apply also to the chemical polymerization. Ferricyanide oxidation, which is outer-sphere and hence most similar to the electrochemical, also allows characterization by Mossbauer spectroscopy.