A facile method to synthesize polypyrrole nanoparticles in the presence of natural organic phosphate

The conductive polymers with unique nanostructures have attracted intense interest due to their potential application. Here the well-defined polypyrrole nanoparticles were facile fabricated via the facile chemical oxidative polymerization of pyrrole with high feeding ratio of phytic acid. Phytic acid is a renewable resource and a natural carbohydrate compound with a vast number of phosphate groups from plant which was used as the template and dopant for the nanostructured conductive polymer for the first time. The samples exhibit the well-defined nanoparticles observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The PPy nanoparticles were achieved and outstanding electrical conductivity as high as 5263   S   m −1 was obtained with the feeding mass ratio of phytic acid: pyrrole=3:7. Furthermore, the polypyrrole nanoparticles were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and electrical conductivity techniques.