Biocatalytic approaches for synthesis of conducting polyaniline nanoparticles

A biocatalytic approach has been developed to synthesize conducting polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticles. The method involves the formation of nanocomposites of PANI and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) by polymerizing aniline (AN)-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) macromonomer (AN/CSA) using a biocatalyst in the presence of template PAA. The second step involves the separation of PANI polymers from PAA and CSA in the nanocomposites. The formation of PANI nanoparticles by this two-step approach is studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). High-resolution solution C-13 NMR and UV/visible spectroscopic techniques have been used to characterize the formation of conducting PANI chains by the enzymatic method.