PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ALKALI-SOLUBLE POLYACRYLAMIDE-G-POLYANILINE

Aniline has been graft copolymerized onto the backbone of polyacrylami de in aqueous HCl solution in the presence of (NH4)(2)S2O8 as oxidant. The polyacrylamide-g-polyaniline copolymer (PAM-g-PAn) can be dissolv ed in 5 wt% NaOH solution when the molar ratio of aniline/acrylamide ( An/AM) in the feed composition was lower than 15. After removal of the salt ions by dialysis and evaporation of the solution, a thin film of PAM-g-PAn was obtained and can be doped by HCl gas. When the molar ra tio of An/AM in the feed composition was about 15, the HCl doped thin film of PAM-g-PAn possessed a high conductivity of 8.8 S/cm. The PAM-g -PAn copolymer was characterized by i.r. and u.v. spectra. Some physic ochemical properties of the copolymer have been investigated. Copyrigh t (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd