Synthesis and Characterization of pH Responsive Conductive Composites of Poly(acrylic acid‐<i>co</i>‐acrylamide) Impregnated with Polyaniline by Interfacial Polymerization

Abstract

Abstract Electrically conducting composite hydrogels of poly(acrylic acid‐ co ‐acrylamide) and polyaniline were prepared by a simple two‐step synthesis process using an aqueous polymerization technique at room temperature and interfacial polymerization of aniline at a water/organic‐solvent interface. The structures of the hydrogels so prepared were confirmed using Fourier transform infrared, UV–vis, X‐ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy methods. The tensile strengths of the hydrogels were determined using a standard method (universal testing machine), whereas the electrical conductivities of composite hydrogels of varying compositions were evaluated using a four‐probe method. The bending behavior of the conducting hydrogels was investigated by using the effective bending angle method. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 32: E520–E530, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com . DOI 10.1002/adv.21298