Influence of the Electrodeposition Conditions on the Energetics of Polypyrrole Thin Films

The influence of the solvent used for the electrodeposition and that of the dopant anion on the energetics of electrochemically grown polypyrrole were studied by means of a non-destructive optical technique: Photocurrent Spectroscopy. Polypyrrole films doped with the same anion and grown in different solvents, both aqueous and nonaqueous, show the same HOMO-LUMO gap and the same Fermi level location in respect to HOMO. Polypyrrole films doped with different anions in aqueous solutions, present different values of indirect band gap and flat band potential, indicating that dopant anion influences both the defects band and the Fermi level locations.