Synthesis and characterization of electroactive novel poly-2-cynoaniline

Abstract

Uniform needle-like structures of poly-2-cynoaniline are formed without the use of any template by electrochemical oxidative polymerization method on copper electrode in acidic medium. The structural characterizations are performed by FT-IR, UV-Visible spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. The morphology of the polymer is demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The framework of the needle-like structure, which is seen at low and high magnifications appeared as nanorods of 50–80 nm diameter and of length up to a few micrometres to form a scaffold of interconnected nanorods. Thermogravimetic analysis (TGA) indicates that poly-2-cynoaniline is thermally more stable than polyaniline. The conductivity of pressed pellet of the as-synthesized polymer measured at room temperature of 25 °C by four-probe measurement method was found to be 9.1824 × 10−5 S/cm. The polymer is easily dispersed in some organic solvents and shows high solubility.