Carbonised polyaniline and polypyrrole: towards advanced nitrogen-containing carbon materials

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPY) undergo carbonisation in an inert/reduction atmosphere and vacuum, yielding different nitrogen-containing carbon materials. This contribution reviews various procedures for the carbonisation of PANI and PPY precursors, and the characteristics of obtained carbonised PANI (C-PANI) and carbonised PPY (C-PPY). Special attention is paid to the role of synthetic procedures in tailoring the formation of C-PANI and C-PPY nanostructures and nanocomposites. The review considers the importance of scanning and transmission electron microscopies, XPS, FTIR, Raman, NMR, and EPR spectroscopies, electrical conductivity and adsorption/desorption measurements, XRD, and elemental analyses in the characterisation of C-PANIs and C-PPYs. The application of C-PANI and C-PPY in various fields of modern technology is also reviewed.