Electrochemical copolymerization of aniline and aniline-2,5-disulfonic acid

Abstract

Electrochemical copolymerization of aniline and aniline-2,5-disulfonic acid (ADSA) was carried out in HCl solutions. The presence of ADSA inhibited significantly the growth of polyaniline (PAn), although the voltammetry of the copolymer was still similar to that of conventional PAn. As the ADSA concentration increased, the deposition rate of the copolymer decreased rapidly and finally no solid film was deposited on the electrode surface. When the ADSA concentration was lower than ~ 5 mM, the depression effect of ADSA on the growth rate of the copolymer is mainly due to its stronger adsorption at the electrode surface. For higher ADSA concentrations, the inhibiting effect of ADSA was dominated by its termination effects, which led to more soluble oligomers and in turn resulted in lower deposition efficiency. Electrolysis of ADSA solution might result in a water-soluble fully sulfonated PAn.