Electrochemical Polymerization of Para-Substituted Haloanilines

Abstract

Polyhaloanilines: poly(4-fluoroaniline) (P4FAN), poly(4-chloroaniline) (P4CAN), and poly(4-bromoaniline) (P4BAN), are synthesized from para-substituted haloaniline monomers; 4-fluoroaniline (4FAN), 4-chloroaniline (4CAN), and 4-bromoaniline (4BAN), respectively, via constant potential electrolysis (CPE) in acetonitrile-water mixture (1:1 v/v) with NaClO4 as supporting electrolyte. Prior to CPE, electrochemical behavior of the monomers were investigated in organic medium utilizing cyclic voltammetry (CV). The course of CPE was monitored using in-situ UV-VIS spectroscopic technique. Characterization of polymer products have been carried out using FT-IR and NMR spectroscopic techniques and thermal behaviors were studied using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Polyhaloanilines synthesized by electrochemical oxidation were doped using iodine and the change in the paramagnetic behavior was monitored by ESR, UV-VIS, and FT-IR.