Tailoring the morphology and swelling–shrinking behaviors of the conducting polymer hydrogels is vital to realizing enhanced performance. Here, we demonstrate an effective approach for the controlled growth of polypyrrole hydrogels with both electrical properties and hydrogel characteristics. Under the static synthetic conditions, the polypyrrole nanotubes are self-assembled to form mesoscale networks of the hydrogels. The effect of the kind and amount of the oxidants on the morphology and swelling–shrinking behaviors of the polypyrrole hydrogels is investigated in detail. The strength of polypyrrole hydrogel is enhanced with the increase of the amount of the oxidant. In the case of Fe(NO₃)₃ as the oxidant, the swelling–shrinking properties of the polypyrrole hydrogels are improved due to the more polypyrrole granules as a mesoscale cross-linker on the surface of polypyrrole nanotubes.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have appeared as the most promising electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries, owing to their unique high ionic conductivity, chemical stability and thermal stability properties. Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) with both IL-like characteristic and polymer structure are emerging as an alternative of traditional electrolyte. In this review, recent progresses on the applications of IL/PIL-based semi-solid state electrolytes, including gel electrolytes, ionic plastic crystal electrolytes, hybrid electrolytes and single-ion conducting electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries are discussed.

Polpyrrole (PPy)/Ag nanocomposites were successfully synthesized at the interface of water and ionic liquid by one-step UV-induced polymerization. Highly dispersed PPy/Ag nanoparticles were obtained by controlling the experimental conditions. The results of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the UV-induced interface polymerization leaded to the formation of PPy incorporating silver nanoparticles. It was also found that the electrical conductivity of PPy/Ag nanocomposite was about 100 times higher than that of pure PPy.