POLYANILINE ALLOYS WITH POLY(3-SULFONATO-4-HYDROXYSTYRENE)

Oxidation of aniline with ammonium peroxodisulfate in aqueous solutions containing poly(3-sulfonato-4-hydroxystyrene) gave polymer alloys (or polymer blends) with a general composition of {(-C6H4NH-)[-CH2-CH(C6H3.OH.SO3-)-](x)(H2SO4)(y).zH(2)O}(n). Their electrical conductivities depended on the composition and Varied between 10(-5) and 0.5 S cm(-1) at 300 K. The polyaniline salts were soluble in water and exhibited an electronic absorption band characteristic of emeraldine salts at 800 nm. The corresponding alkaline solutions showed a band due to emeraldine bases at 600 nm. These bands showed a pH dependence that is a consequence of an interchain interaction between two kinds of polymer chains. A polymer with x=0.4, y=1.2 and z=3.6 was soluble enough to observe EPR spectra, whose pH dependence showed that, with increasing pH, deprotonation occurs at polarons prior to deprotonation at bipolarons.