Synthesis and characterization of polyaniline and poly(aniline-co-o-nitroaniline) using vibrational spectroscopy

Due to the advantages of material abundance and synthetic simplicity, polyaniline can be used as a high capacity cathode material. However, its practical application in battery has been hindered by poor electrochemical utilization and cycling instability. To solve these problems, we synthesized the Polyaniline-co-o-nitroaniline aniline. The copolymers were synthesized for 1:1 and 1:4 M ratios of aniline and o-nitroaniline in acidic medium using ammonium persulfate as oxidant and their properties were compared with that of polyaniline. The prepared samples have been characterized using number of techniques including Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, UV–vis, and conductivity. The polymers showed less electrical conductivity than polyaniline. Unlike polyaniline, the presence of nitro group caused higher frequency dependence of electrical conductivity. The FTIR bands at 1560, 1306 and 1148 cm−1 are corresponding to the polyaniline salt. The Raman band observed in the range of 1100–1140 cm−1 is the characteristic of conductive polyaniline and is due to the charge delocalization on the polymer backbone.