Conducting semi-interpenetrating polymeric composites via the preparation of poly(aniline), poly(thiophene), and poly(pyrrole) polymers within superporous poly(acrylic acid) cryogels

In this study, a novel and special form of hydrogel known as cryogel with super and interconnected pore structures was synthesized as p(acrylic acid) (p(AAc)) cryogel by a cryopolymerization technique. Then, the superporous p(AAc) cryogels were used as template for the synthesis of conductive polymers such as poly(aniline) (p(An)), poly(thiophene) (p(Th)), and poly(pyrrole) (p(Py)). To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to report the synthesis of conductive polymers, p(An), p(Th), and p(Py), within the superporous network of cryogel. The synthesized p(AAc)/p(An), p(AAc)/p(Th), and p(AAc)/p(Py) conducting semi-interpenetrating polymeric network (semi-IPN) cryogel composites were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and conductivity measurements. The conductivities of p(AAc)/p(An), p(AAc)/p(Th), and p(AAc)/p(Py) toward semi-IPN cryogels were measured as 2.2 x 10(-4) +/- 1 x 10(-5),32 x 10(-4) +/- 0.9 x 10(-5), and 3.2 x 10(-3) +/- 5 x 10(-4) S cm(-1), whereas the conductivity of bare p(AAc) cryogels was calculated to be about 3.2 x 10(-9) +/- 2.1 x 10(-10) S cm(-1). (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.