Biocatalytic approaches for synthesis of conducting polyaniline nanoparticles

Cholli, Ashok L.; Thiyagarajan, M.; Kumar, Jayant; Parmar, Virinder S.

doi:10.1351/pac200577010339

Pure Appl. Chem., 2005, Vol. 77, No. 1, pp. 339-344

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac200577010339

Biocatalytic approaches for synthesis of conducting polyaniline nanoparticles

Ashok L. Cholli^1,2, M. Thiyagarajan¹, Jayant Kumar¹ and Virinder S. Parmar³

¹ Center for Advanced Materials, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
² Polnox Corporation, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
³ Bioorganic Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India

Abstract: A biocatalytic approach has been developed to synthesize conducting polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticles. The method involves the formation of nanocomposites of PANI and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) by polymerizing aniline (AN)-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) macromonomer (AN/CSA) using a biocatalyst in the presence of template PAA. The second step involves the separation of PANI polymers from PAA and CSA in the nanocomposites. The formation of PANI nanoparticles by this two-step approach is studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). High-resolution solution ¹³C NMR and UV/visible spectroscopic techniques have been used to characterize the formation of conducting PANI chains by the enzymatic method.