Polymerization of EDOT functionalized star-shaped pentaerythritol and study of the structure and conducting properties of polymers

Abstract

Conducting polymers (CPs) are undergoing a renewal in light of new challenges in energy storage posed by the environmental crisis through expanding their application to concepts of conducting redox polymers, nanostructured CPs and porous CPs. But if their conducting properties are widely documented, the same cannot be said for their structural properties, causing an increasing need of new solutions for the preparation of CPs with predetermined structures. In this study, we used a pentaerythritol core tertrafunctionalized with EDOT units as architectured monomer to prepare porous CPs with a controlled degree of openness and a hierarchical porous structure. Polymers were prepared by electrochemical and chemical oxidation of monomer solutions at different concentrations, and films were studied by cyclic voltammetry, quartz crystal microbalance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and gas sorption experiments. Results show that strong links exit between the porosity and the conductivity of films on the one hand, and the monomer concentration in the polymerization bath on the other, providing a simple way to control the textural and conducting properties of porous CPs.