Abstract

Over the last three decades, conductive polymers have been investigated extensively due to their wide application potentials. Among the conducting polymers, polyaniline (PANI) has been of great interest to many researchers because of its reasonably good conductivity, stability, easy preparation, affordability and redox properties. Even though they have potential application in several fields, their utility is restricted by poor processability. Efforts are being taken to improve the processability of PANI. Emulsion polymerization pathway is identified as one of the ways to improve the processability of the PANI. In this review, we discuss the synthesis of PANI, substituted PANI, copolymers of PANI by the emulsion/inverted emulsion polymerization pathway. In another part of this review, the synthesis of PANI blend and composite with other commodity polymers is described. Preparation of PANI films by solution and thermal processing methods is described. Chemical, physical, and structural aspects of the obtained material via emulsion/inverted emulsion polymerization pathway are also discussed. The present status and future work of PANI materials by emulsion polymerization pathway are brought out in this review. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.