The raw material cardanol, a renewable resource, is industrial waste and a pollutant from the cashew nut industry. Cardanol is a useful starting material for synthesizing a new amphiphilic molecule, cardanol azophenylsulfonic acid (CAPSA). In this study, polypyrroles were electrochemically synthesized with the renewable dopant CAPSA. The polymers were characterized with ultraviolet-visible, Fourier transform infrared, conductivity, impedance, charge-discharge, and cyclic voltammetry analyses. The conductivity of the films doped by CAPSA was in the range of 1.23-3.98 x 10(-5) S/cm, and they exhibited moderate specific capacitance values. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 1.14:3125-3131, 2009