Chemical Synthesis and Characterization of Watersoluble, Conducting Poly (N-phenylglycine)

Many attempts have been made in the last decade to improve the solubility and processability of polyaniline (PANI) and various procedures have been devised in this direction, such as copolymerization, "precursor", "composite" and emulsion methods. It seems that the presence of an electron withdrawing group or an electron donating group decreases orbital overlap of the π-electrons and the nitrogen lone pair and leads to enhancement of solubility and processability of PANI. NPhenylglycine (PG) has a similar structure to aniline, but it has a carboxyl group at the site of nitrogen. Polymerization of PG in presence of template results in a water-soluble, conducting polymer. A strong polyelectrolyte acid such as sulphonated polystyrene (SPS) is the most favourable template. Poly (N-phenylglycine) (PPG) was prepared by the chemical method using ammonium persulphate (APS) as an oxidant in the presence of SPS as a template. The product was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry studies showed only one set of redox peaks and redox reversibility demonstrated the electroactivity of PPG as well. The electrical conductivity of polymer was measured by four-point probe method. The results showed that polymer yield and conductivity decrease as the ratio of template to monomer increases.