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Abstract
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Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)–polyaniline (PANI) diblock and triblock copolymers were synthesized via
copolymerization of aniline with amine-terminated PEG by interfacial polymerization using sulphuric acid as dopant and
ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS) as well as potassium hydrogen diiodate (PHD) as oxidants. The PHD-based synthesized
PANI nanorods possessed longer lengths, narrower diameter distribution and higher conductivity. The electroactivity of
synthesized copolymers was characterized using ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrometry, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and
resistivity measurement. Even in the presence of dielectric PEG blocks, the synthesized block copolymers had a conductivity
around 3 S cm
−1
. In a further step, the solution-grown single crystals were prepared to investigate the general features of
grafted PANI nanorods using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic
force microscopy (AFM). Based on AFM and SAXS analyses, the bimodal gel permeation chromatography (GPC) traces
obtained from the block copolymers were originated from the diameter distribution of nanofibres, not from the dispersity of
their lengths and molecular weights
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