Preparation of Conducting Liquid Crystalline Polymer Based of Poly(2-ethanol aniline)

Abstract

The authors prepared a novel conducting liquid crystalline polymer based poly(2-ethanol aniline) by chemical and electrochemical methods. First, 2-anilinoethyl-3-chloropropionate was synthesized by reaction of 2-ethanol aniline and 3-chloropropionate in presence of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCI) and (dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP). Then, {2-[ethyl[4-[(4-nitrophenyl)azo]phenyl]amino]ethanol}, Disperse Red-I, (Red1) was prepared from addition of 2-(N-ethyl-N-phenylamine) with the 4-nitrobenzenamine. Potassium salt Red1 was prepared by reaction of potassium and Red1 in THF. Then added to 2-anilinoethyl-3-chloropropionate for chemically synthesis of poly[2-anilino-{3-[2-[ethyl[4-[(4-nitrophenyl)azo]phenyl]amino] propanoate]}], Poly(2AECP-Red1). Produced polymer was characterized using FT-IR, UV-visible, and 1H, 13C-NMR spectroscopies. The thermal and liquid crystalline properties of polymer were studied by thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry. Scanning electron microscopy images supported the formation of polymer and showed morphology feature and homogeneous structure on polymer. Electrical conductivity of Poly(2AECP-Red1) has been studied by four-point probe method and produced 4.9 × 10–3 S/cm conductivity for it.