Electrical and magnetic properties of poly(N-ethylaniline)

Abstract

Poly(N-ethylaniline) has been obtained by peroxodisulphate oxidation of N-ethylaniline in aqueous sulphuric acid solution. TGA shows an initial mass loss due to loss of water molecules; the activation energy and pre-exponential factor for thermal decomposition in air have been found to be 125 kJ mol^-1 and 1.4 x 10⁹s^-1 respectively. The polymer is paramagnetic and X-ray diffraction data show it to be an amorphous powder. The electrical conductivity has been measured at temperatures from 303 to 433 K. From the plot of log σ vs 1/<em>T</em>, the activation energy of conductivity has been found to be 0.078 eV. It is suggested from the temperature dependence of the conductivity and magnetic moment that the conduction mechanism is possibly small polaron hopping conduction.