Noel Clark

Vapour-Phase Polymerization of Pyrrole and 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene Using Iron(III) 2,4,6-Trimethylbenzenesulfonate

A new iron(iii) 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfonate (MSA) with composition [Fe(OH2)5(MSA)3] has been prepared from the reaction of Fe(OH)3·xH2O and three molar equivalents of 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfonic acid and used as oxidant in the preparation of highly conducting polypyrrole (PPy) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) films for the first time. PPy and PEDOT films grown on non-conducting overhead transparency (polyethylene terephthalate films) using a vapour phase polymerization technique exhibited very high conductivities; 200 ± 20 Sc m −1 for PPy and 1000 ± 80 Sc m −1 for PEDOT.