Structural and electrical characterization of hybrid metal-polypyrrole nanowires.

We present here the synthesis and structural characterization of hybrid Au-polypyrrole-Au and Pt-polypyrrole-Au nanowires together with a study of their electrical properties from room temperature down to very low temperature. A careful characterization of the metal-polymer interfaces by transmission electron microscopy revealed that the structure and mechanical strength of bottom and upper interfaces are very different. Variable temperature electrical transport measurements were performed on both multiple nanowires-contained within the polycarbonate template-and single nanowires. Our data show that the three-dimensional Mott variable-range-hopping model provides a complete framework for the understanding of transport in polypyrrole nanowires, including nonlinear current-voltage characteristics and magnetotransport at low temperatures.