Structural and electrical properties of dodecylbenzene sulphonicacid doped polypyrrole/zirconium oxide composites

Abstract

Polypyrrole (PPy) dispersed in an organic solvents were synthesized by means of dodecylbenzenesulphonic acid (DBSA) as useful dopant. Composites of doped PPy with DBSA and also mixed with zirconium oxide (ZrO2) nanoparticles were achieved by chemical polymerization route. Raman spectroscopy has been adopted to confirm the interaction between PPy-DBSA and ZrO2. The SEM also confirms the dual phase structure of platelet and egg shell in PPy-DBSA-ZrO2. Temperature dependant DC conductivity exhibited three dimensional variable ranges hopping (3D-VRH) model. Density of states, hopping length in addition to activation energy were calculated and was observe to be effected by increasing the weight ratio of ZrO2 into PPy-DBSA.