THERMOGRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF POLYANILINE-DODECYLBENZENE SULFONIC ACID SALT

Abstract

Soluble polyaniline (PANI-DBSA) was synthesized by inverse emulsion polymerization. Dedecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) was selected as a surfactant because it also acts as a dopant. In this process a mixture of chloroform and 2-butanol was used as a dispersing medium for the first time. The synthesized polymer is found to be soluble in common organic solvents such as DMSO, DMF, and Chloroform and in 2:1 mixture of toluene and 2-propanol. The conducting form of PANI was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The thermal stability was determined by thermogravimetric analysis. This technique was also used to calculate energy of activation (Ea) for the degradation of plymer using Horwitz & Metzger, Coats & Redfern and Chan et al. methods.