Incorporation of dye into conducting polyaniline nanoparticles

Synthesis of polyaniline (PANi) nanodispersions with and without the presence of a reactive dye has been performed via micellar chemical oxidative polymerisation using dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) as the dispersant. The dye used was a textile reactive dye (Carbolan Blue – CB) which was chosen due to it’s structural similarity to DBSA. The polymers formed were PANi · DBSA and PANi · DBSA · CB. The inclusion of the CB dye appeared to facilitate the polymerisation process as observed from open circuit potential measurements during polymerisation. Using transmission electron microscopy, PANi · DBSA · CB was shown to have an average particle size larger than that observed for PANi · DBSA. The CB dye was shown to be incorporated into the polymer by Raman spectroscopy. The CB containing polymer was amenable to protonation/deprotonation as well as redox switching.