Synthesis and Characterization of Conducting Copolymers of Bisphenol A-Diglycidyl Ether with Thiophene Side-Groups and Pyrrole

Abstract

Copolymers of bisphenol A-diglycidyl ether with thiophene side-groups and pyrrole were synthesized by electrochemical polymerization. Bisphenol A-diglycidyl ether with thiophene side-groups (DGEBATh) was obtained from the reaction between bisphenol A-diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) and thiophene-3-acetic acid. The syntheses of copolymers of DGEBATh and pyrrole were achieved electrochemically using three different supporting electrolytes, p-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate (TBAFB). Characterizations of DGEBATh and copolymers were performed by combination of techniques including cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, 1H-NMR and FT-IR. The conductivities were measured by the four-probe technique.