New chemically prepared conducting “pyrrole blacks”

A series of electrically conducting pyrrole “black” polymers has been prepared by chemical oxidation of pyrrole with a variety of ferric salts. The synthesis and properties of these materials are described and compared with electrochemically‐prepared analogs. Pyrrole “blacks” with strong acid anion “dopants” exhibited the highest conductivities, up to 62 Ω cm −1 for the triflate‐doped polymer. The adjustability and ease of synthesis of the ferric‐derived polypyrroles render these particularly promising for large‐scale processing of conducting polymers.