Polymerization of aniline on polyaniline membranes

When solutions of aniline hydrochloride and ammonium peroxydisulfate were separated by a semipermeable cellulose membrane, the reactants met at the membrane and produced a polyaniline (PANI) membrane at the interface. The oxidative polymerization of aniline then proceeded in situ on the PANI-cellulose composite membrane. PANI was produced entirely at the monomer side of the membrane; about 80% conversion of aniline to PANI was observed after 24 h. The oxidation of aniline with peroxydisulfate consists in the transfer of electrons from aniline to the oxidant; it is proposed that electrons pass through the PANI membrane, which is conducting, and electroneutrality is maintained by the simultaneous transfer of protons. The reaction between aniline and peroxydisulfate thus takes place without the need for both reactant molecules to be in physical contact. The residual aniline is located only at its original side of the membrane, but the product of ammonium peroxydisulfate conversion, ammonium hydrogen sulfate, was found on both sides of the membrane. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy has been used to analyze PANI, the reaction residues and byproducts, and to prove that PANI is protonated with counter-ions of the sulfate type. Using this technique, we have detected only small differences in the molecular structure of PANI prepared with the membrane-separated reactants and in the polymerization when reactants were mixed; also, the molecular weights differed only marginally. The conductivity of both types of PANI was about the same. The repeated polymerization of aniline on the earlier prepared PANI-cellulose membrane yielded similar results, thus confirming the proposed concept of coupled electron- and proton-transfer through the PANI membrane.