Electroless deposition of polyaniline: synthesis and characterization

Polyaniline (PANi), as conductive polymer, constitutes an attractive material for electronic and optical applications. Different from electropolymerization and chemical oxidative polymerization, electroless deposition is another method for synthesizing PANi. Aniline can polymerize slowly and spontaneously on platinum or palladium surface in an aqueous acid solution of the monomer. This reaction proceeds via an electrochemical mechanism that involves the reduction of dissolved oxygen as cathodic and oxidation of aniline as anodic half-reactions at the metal/solution interface. PANi, obtained by electroless synthesis, was compared to chemical oxidative and electropolymerized ones by XPS and SEM. The product of electroless deposition is found to be chemically similar to the others but its morphology is different. The PANi film growth and morphology are studied as a function of time and temperature. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.