Colloidal and thermal stability of polyaniline-coated multi-core shell polystyrene latexes prepared using sulfonated N-hydroxyethyl aniline

Conductive polymer particles, poly(sulfonated N-hydroxyethyl aniline, SHEA)–polyaniline–poly(SHEA)–polystyrene (PSHEA–PANI–PSHEA–PSt) multi-core shell composite particles, were synthesized by chemical oxidation polymerization and an effect of poly(SHEA) on the colloidal and thermal stability enhancement was investigated. The PSHEA–PANI–PSHEA–PSt particles showed spherical shape and nearly monodisperse particle size distribution. Elemental analysis, UV–vis spectra, and Raman spectra revealed that polyaniline (PANI) was successfully coated onto the poly(SHEA) modified polystyrene particles. Conductivity of the PSHEA–PANI–PSHEA–PSt particle was higher than that of PANI–PSt particle after annealing at elevated temperature due to the non-volatile properties of poly(SHEA) as a co-dopant compared with inorganic dopants such as HCl. XPS analysis unveiled that the PANI in the PSHEA–PANI–PSHEA–PSt particle was co-doped by sulfonic acid in poly(SHEA), which increased conductive thermal stability of the particles.