Preparation and characterization of the new conducting composites obtained from 2-methylaniline and aniline with activated carbon by in situ intercalative oxidative polymerization

A simple method was used to synthesize poly(2-methylaniline), poly(2-methylaniline- co -aniline) and polyaniline composites with activated carbon (AC) using in situ adsorption oxidative polymerization. The resultant polymer/activated carbon composites were characterized by UV-visible (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The UV-vis and FTIR studies showed that AC particles affect the quinoid units along the polymer backbone and indicate strong interactions between AC particles and quinoidal sites of polymers. In addition, the room temperature conductivity values of these composites varied between 0.256 and 11.196 S cm −1 . The electrochemical behavior of the polymers extracted from the composites has been analyzed by cyclic voltammetry. Good electrochemical response has been observed for polymer films; the observed redox processes indicate that the polymerization into AC produces electroactive polymers.