Electro-controlled swelling and water uptake of a 3-D conducting polypyrrole hydrogel

Antonio, Jadielson L. and Höfler, Lajos and Lindfors, Tom and Córdoba de Torresi, Susana I. (2016) Electro-controlled swelling and water uptake of a 3-D conducting polypyrrole hydrogel. ChemElectroChem. ISSN 2196-0216 (In Press)

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Abstract

Polypyrrole 3D hydro-sponges of tubular structure were synthesized and electrochemically characterized. The FTIR-ATR technique was employed to study the water uptake of the hydro-sponges in different conditions. This technique presents several advantages compared with conventional swelling measurements due to its specificity that allows analyzing water uptake kinetics at molecular level. In combination with mathematical modelling, the FTIR-ATR technique enables also the calculation of the water diffusion coefficients in the hydrogels. The experimental setup also allows studying electro-swelling of the hydro-sponges. The results presented here are complementary to those obtained with the EQCM-D technique and makes it possible to determine the actual role played by water in the ionic exchange occurring in conducting polymers during their redox processes. While the EQCM-D shows the whole mass change in the film provoked by injection/ejection of ions and solvent molecules, the FTIR-ATR follows only the water flux, thus allowing the separation of the solvent contribution.

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