Abstract

Recently a method was developed to obtain a new semi-interpenetrating polymer network of poly (vynil alcohol) glutaraldehyde-polyaniline (PVA/GLUT-PANI); the details of the synthesis are described in Ref, 1. Shortly, thereafter, PANI, in emeraldine form, was prepared by the oxidative polymerization of aniline by using (NH₄)₂S₂O₈ in the temperature range of −5 to −8°C. The semi-IPN was prepared by dissolving emeraldine-base polyaniline and PVA in DMSO. The dissolved polymers were mixed and stirred for 5 min, after which glutaraldehyde, at concentrations of 3 and 6 wt. %, and a small amount of sulfuric acid were added. To obtain thin films, the solution was poured into a Petri dish and left to react for 24 h at room temperature. The last step consisted of drying the sample under vacuum at 50 °C for about 24 h. The morphology of the samples was examined by electron microscopy, which revealed phase separation and domains with a mean diameter of 1 μm.

© 1995 Optical Society of America