Studies on stable aqueous polyaniline prepared with the use of polyacrylamide as the water soluble support polymer

Peroxodisulfate-induced polymerization of aniline in aqueous acidic (HCl) media using the support of a water soluble polymer polyacrylamide, PAAm produced polyaniline (PANI) in aqueous dispersion/solution having high stability and easy processability. PAAm support apparently allows limited grafting of PANI on it in addition to causing a template effect through hydrogen bonding between segments of the two polymers; this explains fairly uniform and high degree of dispersion or solubility of PANI with exceptional storage stability. Aqueous and isolated dry PANI–PAAm composites were characterized spectroscopically (UV-Vis and FTIR), thermally (TGA, DSC) and with respect to their electrical conductivity at different PANI loadings and temperatures. The morphology of the composites were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).