Synthesis of conductive polyaniline via oxidation by MnO2

A unique process of chemical oxidation polymerization of aniline using manganese dioxide (MnO2) as the oxidizing agent in an aqueous medium is described. The reaction between aniline and MnO2 follows a mechanism by which the organic monomer is oxidized while the metal oxide undergoes reductive dissolution. The effects of the amount of oxidizing agent and aniline, pH and temperature of the reactive system, type of acid on the yield and conductivity of polyaniline are discussed. The resulting polyaniline was characterized by IR and UV-Vis spectrometry. Polyaniline with a conductivity of 12.5 S/cm was obtained using 0.033 mol of aniline oxidized by 0.023 mol MnO2 in the presence of 100 mL of 2.7 mol/L HCl at 25degreesC for 4 h