Synthesis and characterization of electropolymerized molecularly imprinted microporous polyaniline films for solar cell applications

Abstract

The solicitude to molecularly imprinted conjugated polymers is flourishing due to their auspicious properties for a myriad of technological and industrial applications. The preparation conditions strongly affect the structure, optical, thermal, and electrical properties of these polymers. Subsequently, a consistent contemplation is desired to entrench consanguinity between processing stipulations and these variables. Here, molecularly imprinted polyaniline films, based ascorbic acid as a template, have been synthesized via electropolymerization technique. This template has been extracted from the films to create microporous polyaniline films. The morphology and structure of these films were investigated using X‐ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric test showed an enhancement in the thermal stability of molecular imprinted polyaniline compared with non‐imprinted techniques. The optical measurements showed that the rate of light absorption is increased twice with low transmission and reflection. The electrical conductivity increased by four orders with activation energy of 0.30 eV. The optoelectronic measurements of molecularly imprinted microporous polyaniline films showed that the filling factor and external quantum efficiency are enhanced compared with non‐imprinted polyaniline films. POLYM. COMPOS., 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers

Correlation between microstructures and optical properties of polyaniline/single‐walled carbon nanotubes composites

“…. As largely reported in the literature, either experimentally or theoretically that depending on its oxidation state, PANI exhibits two spectral absorption regions . The first one in the UV region and refers to the leucomeraldine form.…”

Synthesis, characterization, and charge transport mechanism of polyaniline/ZnSe nanocomposites for promising optoelectronic applications

“…Figure depicts the FTIR spectra of the polyaniline before and after doping with ZnSe nanoparticles. The FTIR spectra of the undoped polyaniline showed absorption bands at 3248, 2993, 1562, 1458, 1288 – , and 1127 cm −1 corresponding to NH stretching vibrations, The aromatic CH stretching, CN stretching of quinoid rings, CN stretching of benzoid rings, aromatic CN stretching and CH in plane bending vibration, respectively . The FTIR spectra of the polyaniline doped ZnSe nanoparticles showed that the intensity of the undoped polyaniline peaks is decreased and the NH stretching peak is shifted by 16 to 3264 cm −1 , implying the interaction between ZnSe and polyaniline molecules.…”

“…It was proved that the addition of small amounts of inorganic nanoparticles into the polymer matrix can improve the optical, mechanical, and electrical properties . Among all tested polymers, polyaniline is the most premeditated polymer for its facile synthesis, high stability and high conductivity . Moreover, Zinc selenide (ZnSe) is II–VI semiconducting materials, which has optical band gap of 2.7 eV enables it to be used in diverse applications such as photovoltaic solar cells and blue diode lasers .…”

Electrochemical synthesis and In situ spectroelectrochemistry of conducting NMPy‐TiO2 and ZnO polymer nanocomposites for Li secondary battery applications

“…Conducting polymers such as polyaniline (PAn), polypyrrole (PPy), poly( N ‐methylpyrrole) (PNMPy), polythiophene (PTh), and their derivatives with different electrical or electrochemical properties have been studied extensively because of their many potential applications . The electrochemical stability of poly‐ N ‐substituted pyrrole is better than that of the PPy .…”