The n-type doping of polyaniline films by ion implantation

Abstract The insulating pernigraniline base form of polyaniline films, which consists of fully oxidized repeat units, is implanted with K + and Ar + at an energy of 40 keV in a fluence range between 1 × 10 15 and 1 × 10 17 ions/cm 2 . N-type conductivity has been observed in the implanted areas of these films by thermal potential tests when ion fluences are over 5 × 10 16 /cm 2 . We also find the interconversion between n-type conductivity and a neutral state by changing the humidity of the environment to which the implanted films are exposed. Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and elastic recoil detection (ERD) have been used to study the distribution of implanted species and the surface concentration changes induced by ion bombardment in order to understand the effects of ion beams on polymer chain structure. It is also proposed in this paper that some units of the pernigraniline form transform into the emeraldine form under ion implantation.