The study reports some preliminary investigations on the template free synthesis of ascantlyinvestigated polyaniline (PANI) derivative—poly (1-naphthylamine) (PNA) by template free method in presence as well as absence of hydrochloric acid (HCl) (dopant), using ferric chloride as oxidant. The polymerization was carried out in alcoholic medium. Polymerization of 1-naphthylamine (NPA) was confirmed by the FT-IR as well as UV–visible studies. The morphology and size of PNA particles was strongly influenced by the presence and absence of acid which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies

D.H. Reneker

D.K. Moon

G.C. Marianovic

J. Huang

J. Shan

J.X. Huang

K. Schmitz

K.A. Shaffie

M.R. Anderson

R. Dersch

S. Marghoob Ashraf

S. Zhou

Sharif Ahmad

T. Ochi

Ufana Riaz

W.S. Huang

English

PubMed

Crossref

Effect of Dopant on the Nanostructured Morphology of Poly (1-naphthylamine) Synthesized by Template Free Method

AbstractThe study reports some preliminary investigations on the template free synthesis of ascantlyinvestigated polyaniline (PANI) derivative&#8212;poly (1-naphthylamine) (PNA) by template free method in presence as well as absence of hydrochloric acid (HCl) (dopant), using ferric chloride as oxidant. The polymerization was carried out in alcoholic medium. Polymerization of 1-naphthylamine (NPA) was confirmed by the FT-IR as well as UV&#8211;visible studies. The morphology and size of PNA particles was strongly influenced by the presence and absence of acid which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies.</p

Riaz Ufana

Ahmad Sharif

Ashraf S

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NANO PERSPECTIVES
Effect of Dopant on the Nanostructured Morphology of Poly
(1-naphthylamine) Synthesized by Template Free Method
Ufana Riaz Æ Sharif Ahmad Æ S. Marghoob Ashraf
Received: 15 September 2007 / Accepted: 30 November 2007 / Published online: 7 December 2007
 to the authors 2007
Abstract The study reports some preliminary investiga-
tions on the template free synthesis of a scantly investigated
polyaniline (PANI) derivative—poly (1-naphthylamine)
(PNA) by template free method in presence as well as
absence of hydrochloric acid (HCl) (dopant), using ferric
chloride as oxidant. The polymerization was carried out in
alcoholic medium. Polymerization of 1-naphthylamine
(NPA) was confirmed by the FT-IR as well as UV–visible
studies. The morphology and size of PNA particles was
strongly influenced by the presence and absence of acid
which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy
(TEM) studies.
Keywords Poly (1-naphthylamine)  Alcohol 
Transmission electron microscopy  Morphology 
Nanostructure
Introduction
Scientific and technological interest in studying nanoma-
terials has spurred to develop conducting polymeric
nanostructures, using reliable and scalable synthetic
methods to provide better performance of these materials in
the established areas of corrosion, sensors, batteries, and
EMI shielding [1–4]. Chemical oxidative polymerization of
aniline is the traditional method for preparing polyaniline
in bulk [5]. In the aniline polymerization reaction, an acidic
solution is needed to enhance the head-to-tail coupling
between aniline monomers. Typically a strong mineral acid
such as hydrochloric, sulphuric, nitric, perchloric or phos-
phoric acid is used at a high concentration (1.0 M) for the
preparation of Polyaniline (PANI) [5]. It has been reported
that the diameter of the nanofibres so formed is strongly
influenced by the dopant used in the polymerization [5].
Polyaniline prepared by using HCl is highly aggregated
and contains mostly irregularly shaped agglomerates which
deteriorate the desired properties of the polymer. Substi-
tuted polyanilines continues to be an emerging research
area of great interest since these polymers hold the
potential to improve upon the properties of polyaniline.
Scarce literature is available on the chemical synthesis of
poly (1-naphthylamine) (PNA)—a polyaniline derivative.
Moon et al. [6] first reported the chemical synthesis of poly
(1-aminonaphthlaene) and poly (aminoanthracene) using
H2O2/Fe
2+ system. Shaffie et al. [7] carried out the chem-
ical oxidative polymerization of poly (1-naphthylamine)
using potassium persulphate, and the conductivity of the
polymer was reported to be in the range of *0.83 Scm-1.
Recently, Shan et al. [8] synthesized PNA via enzymatic
polymerization using horse dish peroxidase. Surprisingly,
none of the studies mentioned above have reported the
nanoscale synthesis of PNA.
This study reports some preliminary investigations on
the template free synthesis of nanostructured PNA with a
view to obtain an agglomerate free nanostructured con-
ducting polymer. The effect of hydrochloric acid on the
agglomeration of PNA is investigated by spectral as well as
morphological studies.
Experimental
Chemicals: Naphthylamine (Loba Chemie, India) was
purified prior to use. The monomer was sublimed at 120 C
U. Riaz  S. Ahmad  S. M. Ashraf (&)
Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Jamia
Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India
e-mail: smashraf_jmi@yahoo.co.in
123
Nanoscale Res Lett (2008) 3:45–48
DOI 10.1007/s11671-007-9112-2
and recrystallized in ethanol. Ethyl alcohol, cupric chlo-
ride, N-methyl pyrolidinone (NMP) (Qualigen, India) were
of analytical grade and were used as such.
Synthesis of Poly (1-naphthylamine)
1-Naphthylamine (NPA) monomer (0.1 M) was dissolved
in a mixture of ethyl alcohol (10 mL) and 1N HCl (10 mL)
at room temperature. The solution was purged in nitrogen
for 1 h. Cupric chloride (0.1 M) dissolved in ethyl alcohol
(5 mL) was then added to the solution of 1-naphthylamine
with slow stirring at 0 C. A violet coloured dispersion
appeared as polymerization progressed. The reactor flask
was cooled to -5 C to obtain a purple glassy phase under
static conditions for 48 h between -5 and -7 C. The
purple-black-coloured glassy phase turned into suspension
after holding for 30 min at room temperature. It was
washed thoroughly with distilled water and methyl alcohol
to remove oligomers, metal ions and other impurities.
Further purification of the polymer was done through
soxhlet extraction using methyl alcohol for a period of 16 h
to remove oligomeric fractions and other impurities.
Resulting powder was then dried under vacuum at 50 C
for 72 h. Similar procedure was adopted for the synthesis
of PNA in ethanol medium without HCl.
Characterization
FT-IR spectra of the powdered polymers were taken in the
form of KBr pellets on spectrometer model Perkin Elmer
1750 FT-IR spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer Cetus Instru-
ments, Norwalk, CT, USA). UV–visible spectra were taken
on Perkin Elmer lambda EZ-221 of the solutions of polymers
prepared in NMP. Transmission electron micrographs were
taken on Morgagni 268-D TEM, FEI, USA. The samples
were prepared by depositing a drop of well diluted polymer
suspension onto a carbon (1 0 0)-coated copper grid and dried
in an oven at 55 C for 2 h. Conductivity measurements were
performed by standard four-probe method using Keithley
DMM 2001 and EG&G Princeton Applied Research poten-
tiostat model 362 as current source. Pressed pellets of
polymers were obtained by subjecting the powder to a
pressure of 50 kN. The error in resistance measurements
under these conditions was less than 2%.
Result and Discussion
FT-IR Spectral Analysis
The FT-IR spectra of PNA, synthesized in absence of HCl,
Fig. 1a, show a broad NH-stretching vibration peak around
3,448 cm-1, which confirms intense hydrogen bonding
between PNA and ethanol. The absorption peaks corre-
sponding to imine stretching mode appear at 1,718 and
1,654 cm-1, while the peak at 1,593 cm-1 is assigned to
the N = Q = N, quinonoid ring, skeletal vibrations. The
peak at 1,512 cm-1 appears due to N–B–N, benzenoid
ring, skeletal vibrations [9] while the CN vibration peaks
are observed at 1,400, 1,314, and 1,261 cm-1. The peak at
1,153 cm-1 is attributed to BNH+ = Q and B–NH–B
vibrations .The presence of peaks at 764 cm-1 is consistent
with the polymerization of NPA through N–C(4) linkages.
The steepness of the base line between 2,000 and
3,000 cm-1 also indicates polymerization [9].
As compared to the above spectra, the FT-IR spectra of
PNA synthesized in the presence of HCl, Fig. 1b, shows
NH-stretching vibration peak centred at 3,370 cm-1 for a
secondary amine. The absorption peaks of imines-stretch-
ing mode are observed at 1,654 and 1,638 cm-1 while the
multiple peaks at 1,596 and 1,570 cm-1 are assigned to the
N = Q = N, quinonoid ring, skeletal vibrations. The peaks
at 1,508 and 1,452 cm-1 appear due to N–B–N, benzenoid
ring, skeletal vibrations. The CN vibration shows up at
1,400 and 1,302 cm-1. The B–NH+ = Q and B–NH–B
vibration peak is noticed at 1,156 cm-1. The presence of
strong peak at 766 cm-1 is consistent with the polymeri-
zation of NPA through N–C(4) linkages while the peak at
790 cm-1 exhibits N–C(5) coupling between neighbouring
PNA rings [9].
It can be concluded that the presence of acidic condi-
tions strongly influences the conformation of the PNA
Fig. 1 FT-IR spectra of PNA synthesized (a) in absence of HCl (b)
in presence of HCl
46 Nanoscale Res Lett (2008) 3:45–48
123
chains. In absence of HCl, hydrogen bonding takes place
between the PNA and ethanol. The PNA chains in this
case, therefore, contain larger number of quinonoid units
predominantly linked through N–C(4) linkages. This is
evident from the spectra, Fig. 1a, which show the presence
of more quinonoid vibration peaks than the benzenoid
vibration peaks. However, all peaks in this case are well
formed indicating a well-ordered conformation of PNA.
UV–Visible Studies
The UV–visible spectra of PNA in NMP, Fig. 2a, b, shows
pronounced peaks at 350 nm in the UV range and 590 nm
as well as 600 nm in the visible range. The peaks in the UV
range are assigned to P-P* transitions in the NPA units
whereas the peaks in the visible range are assigned to the
polaronic transitions. Similar transitions of electrochemi-
cally synthesized PNA have been observed by Schmidt
et al. [10]. The polaronic transition peak observed around
600 nm appears to be highly pronounced and broad in case
of PNA synthesized in HCl, but in the absence of HCl, the
peak appears to be of far lower intensity. A ‘‘compact coil’’
structure is observed in both cases. A small red shift is
observed in case of PNA prepared in HCl, which could be
attributed to the conformational changes in PNA chains
upon doping with later. It appears that doping of PNA with
HCl enhances the polaron formation which causes a red
shift as well as enhancement in the intensity in the peak
observed around 590 nm. The conductivity of PNA in
presence of HCl was found to be in the conducting range,
6.1 9 10-4 Scm-1, while in absence of HCl, it was found
to be in the semi-conducting range, 8.7 9 10-6 Scm-1.
TEM Analysis
The TEM image of PNA nanostructures synthesized in
absence of HCl, Fig. 3a, reveals a well-interconnected
dense network structure of PNA nanoparticles with diam-
eter in the range of 6–10 nm. The particles appear to be of
uniform sizes. The micrograph also reveals a highly orga-
nized granular structure of PNA. The strong intra and
intermolecular H-bonding interactions in PNA lead to
extensive coiling of the polymer chains resulting in granular
morphology. However, in presence of HCl, Fig. 3b, we
observe that the ordering is entirely lost and a random
morphology of large spherical particles of varying sizes is
observed; the later being in the range of 20–30 nm. The
spectral investigations also highlight the differences in the
conformation, which govern the extent and nature of coiling
of the PNA chains resulting in different morphologies. In
the absence of HCl (undoped state), the PNA nanoparticles
undergo intermolecular hydrogen bonding with ethanol that
acts as a ‘‘pseudo template’’ and promotes the formation of
Fig. 2 UV–visible spectra of PNA
Fig. 3 TEM micrographs of PNA synthesized (a) in absence of HCl
(b) in presence HCl
Nanoscale Res Lett (2008) 3:45–48 47
123
more compact, uniform nanostructured morphology. In
presence of HCl, PNA exhibits reduced polarity and poor
affinity towards ethanol [11, 12]. Furthermore, the presence
of HCl as dopant increases the average diameter of the
nanoparticles resulting in agglomeration which disrupts the
‘‘interconnected network’’ like morphology of PNA [13].
Conclusion
The synthesis of nanostructured PNA described is this
article is very facile and robust which does not require any
extra structural directing agents or template removing
steps. Hydrochloric acid when used as a dopant plays a
significant role in deciding the morphology of the nano-
structure of PNA. The aggregation of nanoparticles can be
prevented by avoiding the use of highly acidic dopants
such as HCl as well as by using alcohol as a medium for
polymerization of conducting polymers. These findings
may provide valuable information in the template free
synthesis of many other nanostructures. The investigations
on influence of other parameters such as polymerization
temperature, reaction time, mechanical agitation, and
choice of oxidant, are under progress in our laboratory and
will be published soon.
Acknowledgement This work was funded by CSIR through grant
No. 01/(1953)/04/EMR-II. The authors wish to thank the CSIR for its
financial support.
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Effect of Dopant on the Nanostructured Morphology of Poly (1-naphthylamine) Synthesized by Template Free Method

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