Self-suspended polypyrrole with liquid crystal property

Polypyrrole (PPy) has attracted wide attention due to its high conductivity, environmental stability, low cost, facile synthesis and doping. However, the rigid backbone and π-conjugation structure of polypyrrole lead to the poor solubility and processability and thus restricting its applications. In this letter, self-suspended PPy was obtained by using a long-chain protonic acid CH 3 (CH 2 ) 8 C 6 H 4 (OCH 2 -CH 2 ) 10 SO 3 H (NPES) as dopant and then through a common dialysis. Such unique structured PPy is a kind of solvent-free fluid which can flow at or near room temperature. The solubility and processability of self-suspended polypyrrole have been improved effectively due to the introduction of oxyethylene groups and alkyl group. And it also directly presents unique liquid crystal property. Moreover, the self-suspended polypyrrole exhibited a relatively high electrical conductivity reached up to 0.11 S/m, presenting a typical characteristic of the semiconductor. Such self-suspended polypyrrole could be a promising alternative in the field of lightweight battery, super capacitor and metal anti-corrosion.