Thermo-Electric Power Study of Polypyrrole/Zirconium Oxide Composites

In-situ polymerization of pyrrole was carried out with zirconium oxide, in the presence of oxidizing agent ammonium persulphate, to synthesize polypyrrole/zirconium oxide composites, by chemical oxidation method. The polypyrrole/zirconium oxide composites were synthesized with various compositions viz., 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 wt. % of zirconium oxide in pyrrole. The powder X-ray diffraction spectrographs suggest that they exhibit behavior. Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy shows that, the stretching frequencies are shifted towards higher frequency side. The surface morphologies of these composites studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy indicate that zirconium oxide particles are embedded in the polypyrrole (PPy) chain, to form multiple phases. Thermographs of thermal analysis also imply that the polypyrrole/zirconium oxide composites have stronger stability than PPy. The observation of UV-VIS-NIR spectrum is proof of an interaction between polypyrrole/zirconium oxide. The PPy/ZrO2 composites have exhibited semiconductor behavior for the thermo e. m. f. / See-beck voltage.