Biocatalytic approaches for synthesis of conducting polyaniline nanoparticles*
Ashok L. Cholli1,2,‡, M. Thiyagarajan1, Jayant Kumar1, and Virinder S. Parmar3
1Center for Advanced Materials, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA; 2Polnox Corporation, Lowell, MA 01854, USA; 3Bioorganic 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.
*Paper based on a presentation at the 24th International Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products and the 4th International Congress on Biodiversity, held jointly in Delhi, India, 26-31 January 2004. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1-344.