Highly conductive and thermally stable nanoparticle-conjugated polymer compounds through environmentally friendly in situ synthesis

In this paper, an environmentally-friendly in situ synthesis of highly conductive and thermally stable nanoparticle-conjugated polymer nano-compounds is introduced. The water-based in situ chemical synthesis enables the successful polymerization of conductive, conjugated polypyrrole: polystyrene sulfonate (PPY:PSS) polymer and the incorporation of silver (Ag) nanoparticles without morphological deformation. The Ag nanoparticles dispersed within the PPY:PSS acted as a mass transport barrier, thus enhancing the thermal stability of the obtained Ag-PPY:PSS. In addition, the enhanced electrical conductivity of Ag-PPY:PSS was attributed to the embedded Ag nanoparticles generating a low-contact resistance conduction pathway, thereby facilitating inter-chain charge transport. Moreover, the conductivity of Ag-PPY:PSS was well tuned by controlling the weight percentage of Ag nanoparticles in the reaction mixture. The environmentally-friendly synthesis of highly conductive and thermally stable nano-compounds will contribute to the realization of next-generation green electronic applications.