A reactive wet spinning approach to polypyrrole fibres

Electrically conducting, robust fibres comprised of both an alginate (Alg) biopolymer and a polypyrrole (PPy) component have been produced using reactive wet-spinning. Using this approach polypyrrole-biopolymer fibres were also produced with single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), added to provide additional strength and conductivity. SEM images of the PPy-Alg composite fibres clearly show the tubular multifilament form of the alginate fibre impregnated with PPy nanoparticles. The fibres produced containing CNTs show a 78% increase in ultimate stress and 25% increase in elongation to break compared to PPy-alginate fibre. Young's modulus obtained for the PPy-Alg-CNT fibres showed a 30% increase compared to the PPy-alginate fibre. The fibres produced were electrochemically active and capable of electromechanical actuation with a strain of 0.7% produced at a scan rate of 100 mV s(-1) of the potential.