Polymerization of water-soluble conductive polyphenol using horseradish peroxidase

Template assisted enzymatic polymerization of phenol has been carried out in aqueous media at room temperature. The templates used to facilitate this reaction, were polystyrene sulfonate, lignin sulfonate and dodecyl benzene sulfonate. The enzyme, horseradish peroxidase, proved to be an active catalyst for the polymerization, yielding a phenolic polymer that is permanently complexed with the template used. These polyphenol complexes are high molecular weight, soluble in water and/or mixed organic solvents and show good thermal stability. Under certain conditions, physical SPS-polyphenol gels can be formed in water that have high ionic conductivity. UV-vis, FTIR and electroabsorption spectroscopy show the presence of significant backbone conjugation and NLO properties. This novel enzymatic approach is a simple, inexpensive and environmentally friendly way to prepare processable polyphenolic materials with interesting electrical and optical properties.