Kinetics of degradation of the electrical conductivity of polypyrrole under thermal aging

Abstract Aging experiments, with in-situ conductivity measurements, were performed on various polypyrrole films deposited on fabrics. The samples were synthesized by chemical polymerization. The kinetics of aging of these materials was established, and lead us to suggest that over the temperature range 60–140°C they are determined by a unique diffusion mechanism. These results are compared with literature data concerning electrochemically synthesized films. A degradation mechanism for these materials is proposed. Special attention is paid to the doping species in relation to the stability of the resulting polymer.