Thermal analysis of conducting polymers part I

Thermogravimetry (TG) has been conducted on a series of electroconducting acid-doped polyanilines. The weight loss results suggest that the majority of dopants are eliminated between 230 °C to 350 °C leaving behind the skeletal non-conducting polyaniline. The doped polyaniline are thermally more stable than the pristine polyaniline in air at high temperatures. This suggests that despite the early elimination observed, the presence of dopant at the begining has a stabilizing effect on the skeletal polyaniline. By comparison the acid-doped polyanilines are more thermally stable than many other electroconductive polymers, such as polypyrroles and polyacetylenes.