Synthesis and Characterization of Electrically Conducting Poly(o-/m-toluidine-co-o-/m-aminoacetophenone) copolymers

A series of poly(o-/m-toluidine-co-o-/m-aminoacetophenone) copolymerscombining the features of high conductivity and processibility aresynthesized and characterized by a number of techniques including $^1H$ NMR; thermogravimetry; IR, Raman, and UV-visible spectroscopy; scanningelectron microscopy; and X-ray diffraction. The copolymers aresynthesized by the emulsion and inverse emulsion methods usingconventional ammonium persulfate and a new oxidant, benzoyl peroxide,respectively. The influence of the polymerization conditions such asthe monomer feed ratios, solvent, and the nonsolvent is investigated.The composition of the resulting copolymers is determined by $^1H$ NMR analysis. The conductivity of the copolymers varies with theaminoacetophenone content in the feed and the polymerizationconditions. It is interesting that the conductivity of the copolymersis higher than that of the corresponding homopolymers. The results arerationalized on the basis of the effect of the -$COCH_{\mathrm{3}}$ substituent onthe polymer structure