Synthesis and Characterization of Itaconic Acid Doped Polyaniline Nanorods

Abstract

Polyaniline nanorods were synthesized via soap-free emulsion polymerization using itaconic acid as dopant and characterized by particle size and distribution measurement, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). The particle size of the prepared polyaniline has nearly mono-dispersed property because almost all the particle sizes distribute among the range of 14~110μm. Its morphology consists of the nanorods with the diameter of 50~100nm and the length of 0.1~1μm. FT-IR spectrum indicated that polyaniline of half oxidation state was successfully synthesized and obviously doped with itaconic acid. Moreover, the polymer possesses excellent thermal stability with little weight loss up to 208°C.