Composite Polyaniline/MF-4SK Membranes: A Chemical Template Synthesis and the Sorption and Conduction Properties

Abstract

The sorption and hydrophilic properties of composite membranes PAN/MF-4SK, obtained by a chemical template synthesis, are studied. The synthesis is performed in static and dynamic conditions for perfluorinated sulfo-cationite membranes MF-4SK in 0.01 M aniline solutions in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 0.01 M FeCl3 in 0.5 M H2SO4. The aniline sorption and polymerization kinetics is studied by conductimetry, radioisotope, and optical methods. The polymerization rate is found to depend on the oxidant concentration and the sequence of the membrane saturation with aniline. An increase in the intensity of the color of a composite film, which depends on the balance between the quinoimine, amine, and radical-cation fragments in the perfluorinated matrix, does not lead to any substantial changes in the moisture content or the ac electroconductivity. Implanting polyaniline chains into the perfluorinated matrix presumably leads to a molecular reorganization of water at the expense of a change in its association at the point where redox fragments of polyaniline converge with side segments of the template matrix.