Single-side polypyrrole coated conductive and flexible polyurethane films

In this study, single-side polypyrrole (PPy) coated conductive stretchable polyurethane (PU) / PPy composite films were synthesized by chemical oxidative method in the acetonitrile (ACN)/H₂O interface as a new alternative to two-side coated PU films which have already reported in the literature. One surface of the PU film was contacted with aqueous Py solution and the other surface with cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN) solution in ACN, so that only one surface of the film was coated with PPy and the resulting composite was named PU/PPy (PUP). This composite was characterized by four-point probe conductivity measurement, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements, and mechanical testing. The thickness of PPy coating was determined as 16 µm, by using polarized microscope imagines of crosssection of film. T_g value of the composite was obtained as –60.38 °C and the highest conductivity of PPy coated side of PU was obtained as 3.5 × 10^–4 S cm^–1, while the back side of PU film was still insulator.