A Facile and Efficient Route for Coating Polyaniline onto Positively Charged Substrate

Abstract

By means of the "swelling-diffusion-interfacial polymerization method" (SDIPM), we successfully coated polyaniline (PANi) onto the positively charged polystyrene (PS) particles, which electrostatically repulse each other. After initially forming aniline-swollen PS particles, diffusion of the monomer toward the aqueous phase was controlled through a slow addition of hydrochloric acid, eventually leading to its polymerization on the particle surface. It is an unique, facile, and efficient approach based on raw substrate particles with cationic surface, in comparison with the previous efforts focusing on laborious surface modification or customized design of the substrate particles. The synthesized composite particles have been extensively characterized using scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared, Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry. The resultant PS/PANi core/shell conductive composites possessed a uniform, intact PANi overlayer, and furthermore, their mophology can be well controlled by simply changing weight ratio of aniline/PS. The importance of the results just consists in the fact that the limitation of constructing an overlayer on similarly charged substrate particles should be overcome by adopting the unique SDIPM.

Controlled preparation of core–shell polystyrene/polypyrrole nanocomposite particles by a swelling–diffusion–interfacial polymerization method

“…Thus, the resultant PPy would yield readily coats on the seed particles simultaneously. This fabrication strategy was named as the "swelling-diffusion-interfacial polymerization method," which was proposed in our previous researches [30,31]. As the formation proceeds, the swollen seed particles act as reservoirs that constantly release monomer to the external surface to keep the processes of diffusion and interface reaction going.…”

“…Recently, we reported a considerably facile strategy, the so-called swelling-diffusion-interfacial polymerization method (SDIPM), for preparing PS/PANi and PS/PEDOT composite particles, aiming to improve and control their morphology and loading efficiency independent of surface pretreatments of the PS seed latex [30][31][32][33]. In the present work, we applied the distinct SDIPM to a PS-pyrrole system in which common PS microspheres without further surface functionalizations and modifications are chosen as seed particles to prepare PS/PPy composite particles with uniform morphology and controllable structure.…”

Aliphatic–aromatic polyester–polyaniline composites: preparation, characterization, antibacterial activity and conducting properties

“…Conducting polymers, such as polypyrrole, polythiophene and polyacetylene, have been applied in various fields, including conducting paints, electromagnetic interference, electromagnetic shielding, anti‐static formulations, sensors/actuators and corrosion protection 12–14. In particular, given its favourable environmental stability and controllable electrical properties, polyaniline (PANI) has emerged as a promising polymer that is either completely insulating or exhibits high conductivity, depending on its oxidation state and protonation level 15, 16. Only the intermediate oxidation state in the protonated emeraldine form is conducting.…”

Preparation and characterization of an aromatic polyester/polyaniline composite and its improved counterpart

“…However, PANI's utilization has been limited because most chemically synthesized PANI is difficult to manipulate using normal melt processing techniques. Furthermore, because thin conducting films of PANI are necessary for most applications -such as for electrodes, sensor devices, control of electromagnetic interference, and the dissipation of electrostatic charge -more easily processable PANI-based materials are needed [5][6][7][8]. The principal disadvantage of PANI is its poor processability, and for this reason, some of its potential applications have not been fully explored.…”