Electrosynthesis and characterization of a conducting copolymer having S–S links

Copolymers of 2,5-dimethoxy aniline (DMA) with 2,2-dithiodianiline (DTDA) were prepared for different molar feed ratios of DTDA by electrochemical polymerization in propylene carbonate (PC) containing 1 M LiClO4. Cyclic voltammetry, UV-Vis spectroelectrochemical measurements and FTIR spectroscopy were used to identify the differences in optical properties and structures between the copolymer and the homopolymers (PDMA/PDTDA). The composition of the copolymer was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the copolymers prepared with different feed ratios of comonomers. The fraction of DTDA units in the copolymers depends on the molar feed composition of DTDA in copolymerization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals the morphological differences between the copolymer and PDMA.