SYNTHESIS, DOPING, AND PROCESSING OF HIGH-MOLECULAR-WEIGHT POLY(O-METHOXYANILINE)

High molecular weight poly(o-methoxyaniline) was synthesized using a novel method in which the polymerization occurs in the presence of a neutral salt. The molecular weight of the polymer was greatly affected by the quenching procedure employed to conclude the polymerization. Conventional doping of the base form of poly (o-methoxyaniline) produced a yellow coloration of the doping solution and polymer degradation. It was found that the molecular weight of the polymer decreased significantly after washing or doping with certain aqueous acid media. The gelation conditions of N-methyl pyrrolidinone (NMP) solutions and film preparation were also investigated for polymers of various molecular weights. The gelation time in NMP decreased drastically with the increase in the polymer molecular weight (the same for solution concentration and temperature), until a critical point was reached after which its decrease was very slow. Flexible, free-standing, and stretchable films were readily obtained from the higher molecular weight polymers. Good quality doped gel films with conductivity of up to 1 S/cm were obtained under optimized doping conditions. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.