sulfonated polyaniline: influence of sulfonation routes on its thermal and structural characteristics

In order to study the influence of different sulfonation routes on its thermal and structural properties sulfonated polyaniline (SPAni) was prepared. FT-IR revealed that the formation of PAni salt or ring sulfonation depends on the route. UV-visible spectra pointed out that the level of the PAni protonation was dependent on the sulfonation route. A new approach was given for TG/DTG and DSC results correlating different energy levels with the distinguished sulfonation routes. The TG/DTG degradation steps and the amount of the released material corroborated the structural differences of the polyanilines. For each DSC first regime of heating, a broad and intense peak (from -30 to 250 ºC) with different level of energy was noticed. That peak could be ascribed to the multiple relaxations and breaking of the PAni intra and inter hydrogen bonds after sulfonation.