Influence of Oxidant on Electrical Properties of the Polypyrrole-Coated Cotton Fabrics

The polypyrrole-coated cotton fabrics were prepared via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization. The polymerization time of 120 min and reaction temperature of 25 °C were employed in this study. The major factors on electricities of the fabrics, including types of oxidants and molar ratio of pyrrole monomer to oxidant, were studied. Ferric trichloride hexahydrate (FeCl3·6H2O), ammonium persulfate ((NH4)2S2O8) and sodium periodate (NaIO4) were selected to carry out the synthesis of polypyrrole. When FeCl3·6H2O acted as oxidant, the optimum conductivity of 4×10-3 S·cm-1 could be obtained by changing molar ratio of Py to FeCl3·6H2O. By contrast, the highest conductivity of fabrics which used (NH4)2S2O8 as oxidant was 1.8 ×10-4 S·cm-1. The evolution of resistivities, morphology, surface chemistry and mechanical strength were characterized by a four-points probe resistivity system, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and mechanical test instrument.