Influence of the anion on polyaniline

Abstract

Polyaniline exists in various forms distinguished by the number of protons bonded to nitrogen, which determines the degree of oxidation of the polymer. At a macroscopic scale, doping involves electron transfer as well as protonation of the nitrogen heteroatom, which stabilises localised bound states to impart electronic conductivity to the system. However, it has been observed that the processability of this intractable polymer is greatly influenced by the anion associated with the protonating agent. Here we briefly summarise the influence of the anion on the behaviour of polyaniline.