Chemical Polymerization of Aniline on a Poly(styrene sulfonic acid) Membrane: Controlling the Polymerization Site Using Different Oxidants

Abstract

Poly(styrene sulfonic acid) membranes (Neosepta CMX, Tokuyama Corp.) have been modified by in situ polymerization of aniline. (NH₄)₂S₂O₈, FeCl₃, H₂O₂, and KIO₃ were used as oxidizing agents, and two different modification methods (single-step versus two-step) were studied. The composite membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, elemental analysis, electrodialysis, ion-exchange capacity, and conductivity measurements. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to control the polymerization site of aniline which in turn affects the membrane selectivity properties. Hence, composite membranes having a very thin and homogeneous surface polyaniline layer lead to a very low transport of Zn²⁺ without increasing significantly the resistance to H⁺ conductivity. On the other hand, membranes containing about the same quantity of PANI but inside the membrane do not block the transport of Zn²⁺.