Electrochemical deposition and characterization of polyppyrrole coatings doped with nickel cobalt oxide for environmental applications

Electrochemical depositions of hybrid polypyrrole/nickel cobalt oxide (PPy/NiCoO) coatings onto ferritic stainless steel surface were carried out with different electrochemical techniques from 0.1 M pyrrole (Py) in 0.2-M oxalic acid (OA) solution and less than 150-nanometer-sized NiCoO particles. The structural properties of the composite were investigated by using different methods such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and Raman spectroscopy. The embedded NiCoO particles, uniformly distributed onto the surface of the PPy film, have similar oxide ratios corresponding to a mixed oxide structure. The electrochemical characterization was done using polarization curves and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) related to oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solution and hydrogen peroxide as an oxygen source. Concerning the exchange current densities for ORR, the obtained values (between 1.06 and 1.45 × 10−3 mA cm−2 for a total amount of NiCoO of 0.1 mg cm−2) are comparable with other polymer films with Pt.