Preparation of highly crystalline poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline) nanoplates using a soft-template method and their structural characterization

A highly crystalline poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline) (PDMA) nanoplate was synthesized via oxidative polymerization of 2,5-dimethoxyaniline (DMA) using poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) as dopant in a reaction system with low PSS concentration. The nanoplate formation conditions and the underlying mechanism were investigated. It is believed that the PSS/DMA complex has more extended conformation in the dilute aqueous system so that it can form parallel packed aggregates that act as a soft template for polymerization of DMA to form plate-like morphology. When PSS is replaced by p-toluene sulfonic acid (p-TSA) under the same conditions, only PDMA particles are formed because the p-TSA/DMA complex forms different shaped micelles. The structure and morphology of PDMA nanoplates were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the PDMA nanoplates of several nanometres in thickness are stacked together randomly and each nanoplate has a single crystal-like structure.