Preparation of Poly(aniline-co-phenol) and Study Its Properties and Its Polymerization Kinetics Using Two Methods: UV-Vis and HPLC

Abstract

The co-polymerization of polyaniline is one of the most important methods used to improve the electrical activity and thermal stability of polyaniline. Previously, electrochemical co-polymerization of phenol and aniline was performed on 304 stainless steel anodes. In this study, we present the co-polymerization of aniline and phenol chemically at laboratory temperature in an acidic medium with ammonium pyrosulfate as an oxidant. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis of poly(aniline-co-phenol) sample shows a rough (non-smooth) surface with crystalline particles with microscopic diameters. We characterized the prepared polymer with DSC, DTA, and thermos gravimetric analysis (TGA). We found that the thermal decomposition of poly(aniline-co-phenol) was on six steps. The glass transition temperature of the co-polymer (Tg) was found at 863.89 and#176;C and the melting transition temperature was observed at 877.80 and#176;C. We studied the kinetics of Poly(aniline-co-phenol) using two methods: UV-Vis, HPLC. Then we determined the reaction order. It was found that the reaction was the zero-order reaction (n=0) in both previous two methods.