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Grafting polythiophene on polyethylene surfaces
Author(s) -
Chanunpanich N,
Ulman A,
Strzhemechny Y M,
Schwarz S A,
Dormicik J,
Janke A,
Braun H G,
Kratzmüller T
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.1016
Subject(s) - polythiophene , polymerization , materials science , thiophene , polyethylene , polymer chemistry , grafting , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , anhydrous , thin film , conductivity , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , conductive polymer , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , engineering
Polythiophene (PT) was grafted on PE film using three reaction steps. First, PE films were brominated in the gas phase, yielding PE–Br; second, a substitution reaction of PE–Br with 2‐thiophene thiolate anion gave the thiophene‐functionalized PE; finally PT was grafted on the PE surface using chemical oxidative polymerization to give PE–PT. The polymerization was carried out in a suspension solution of anhydrous FeCl 3 in CHCl 3 , yielding a reddish PE–PT film after dedoping with ethanol. ATR‐FTIR shows that the PT was grafted on PE in the 2,5‐position. SEM imaging revealed islands of PT on the PE film. AFM analysis found the thickness of islands to be in the range of 120–145 nm. The conductivity of these thin films was in the range of 10 −6 S cm −1 , a significant increase from the value of ∼10 −14 S cm −1 measured for PE film. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry