Thermal behaviour of synthetic metals: Polyanilines^#

Abstract

Polyanilines have been synthesized by chemical polymerization technique using ammonium persulphate as an oxidant. These polymers have been doped using an inorganic dopant, i.e., HCl and an organic dopant like <i>p</i>-toluene sulphonic acid (PTSA). Thermal behaviour of polyanilines has been studied by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential

scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The thermogravimetric analysis shows a three-step decomposition of the polymer corresponding to loss of water molecules, dopant, and degradation of the polymer backbone respectively. The morphological behaviour has also been studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique.