Wm. De Azevedo et al., Semi-interpenetrating polymer networks based on polyaniline and polyvinyl alcohol-glutaraldehyde, SYNTH METAL, 100(3), 1999, pp. 241-248
A new semi-Interpenetrating Polymer Network (semi-IPN) based on polyvinyl a
lcohol-glutaraldehyde/polyaniline was synthesized and characterized by spec
troscopic analysis in the W-Visible-Infrared region and by scanning electro
n microscopy (SEM). The semi-IPNs exhibit good mechanical properties, chara
cteristic of polyvinyl alcohol-glutaraldehyde polymer network, and excellen
t optical properties. The UV-Visible results show that the optical properti
es of the semi-IPNs are characteristic only of polyaniline polymer, and tha
t the semi-IPNs are able to preserve the reduced or oxidized state of polya
niline for several months. The scanning electron microscopy of the semi-IPN
s shown that phase separation occurs and the domains formed probably are du
e to polyaniline particle covered with an adsorbed layer of electrically in
sulating PVA stabilizer. The domains have a rice-grain morphology with aver
age length of 1 mu m, and average width of 0.5 mu m for less cross-linked s
amples. The morphology of the phase domains change from rice-grain to spher
ical shape, as the cross-linking degree increases. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scienc
e S.A. All rights reserved.