Comparison of electrical and microstructural property of polyaniline-poly-ortho-anisidine (PAni-PAnis) copolymer with its homopolymers
Abstract
The electrical property of chemically synthesized conducting copolymer poly-aniline-co-o-anisidine (PAni-PAnis) was studied and compared with the homopolymers-polyaniline (PAni) and poly-o-anisidine (PAnis)- and a mixed polymer of 1:1 weight ratio PAni and PAnis. Electrical conductivities were measured using the van der Pauw method in an in-line configuration. The copolymer (PAni-PAnis) had conductivity of 0.08968 S/cm, which was intermediate between those of homopolymers, PAni (c = 4.7495 S/cm) and PAnis (c = 0.00013 S/cm). In comparison with the mixed polymer (c = 0.43929 S/cm), the copolymer was found to have lower conductivity, which confirms higher reactivity of o-anisidine compared to aniline monomer during the oxidation process resulting to higher concentration of PAnis in the resulting copolymeric chain. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of PAni-PAnis copolymer showed close resemblance to that of PAnis, which has flat, flaky and plate-like microstructures. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy pattern showed that chemically synthesized homopolymers and copolymers possess stretching mode characteristic of quinoid and benzenoid forms.