DETERMINATION OF OXALATE ION DOPANT LEVEL IN POLYPYRROLE USING FT-IR

A pellet method using standard addition and FT-IR was used to estimate oxalate ion doping levels in electrosynthesized polypyrrole. The method is useful for materials where removal of analyte from an insoluble material is problematic. Here, electrosynthesized oxalate doped polypyrrole is dispersed in potassium bromide. Spikes of sodium oxalate are added and the mixtures pressed into pellets. The oxalate carbonyl absorption peak is then used to quantify the amount of oxalate present in the polypyrrole. The mass fraction of oxalate dopant in polypyrrole was determined to be 0.4 ± 0.1 % and coincides with the original synthesis solution composition.