Near-monodispersed polyaniline particles through template synthesis and simultaneous doping with diblock copolymers of PMA and PAAMPSA

Well-defined block copolymers of poly(methyl acrylate) and poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid), PMA/PAAMPSA, were successfully synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. These amphiphilic block copolymers spontaneously form micelles with a hydrophobic PMA core and a hydrophilic PAAMPSA corona in aqueous solutions. These micelles were used to template synthesize polyaniline. Because the polymerization of aniline is restricted to the PAAMPSA corona, which also serves as the dopant, the size of the conductive particles can be controlled by tuning the molecular characteristics of the block copolymer while maintaining a narrow size distribution. When cast as films, their conductivities are influenced by the weight fraction of polyaniline present, with higher polyaniline loading resulting in higher conductivities.