Hydroxyl-Functionalized Polyaniline Nanospheres: Tracing Molecular Interactions at the Nanosurface via Vitamin C Sensing

• Published in: Langmuir Vol. 24; no. 17; pp. 9754 - 9762
• Main Authors: Anilkumar, P, Jayakannan, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 02.09.2008
• Subjects: Acetanilides - chemistry; Aniline Compounds - chemistry; Ascorbic Acid - chemistry; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Hydroxyl Radical - chemistry; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Mass Spectrometry - methods; Materials: Nano-and Mesostructured Materials, Polymers, Gels, Liquid Crystals, Composites; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Models, Chemical; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanospheres - chemistry; Nanotechnology - methods; Polymers - chemistry; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Surface physical chemistry; Water; Hydrogen; Molecular interaction; Nanofiber; NMR spectrometry; Template; Synthesis; Functionalization; Dynamics; Hydroxyl group; Nanosphere; Monomer; Structure; Aniline polymer; Functional group; Scanning electron microscopy; Light scattering; Polymer; Infrared spectrometry; Trace; Solid state; Transmission electron microscopy; Morphology; Tracing; Aggregate; Hydroxyl
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/la801128j

Here, we report a synthesis of novel polyaniline nanospheres bearing mono- and bishydroxyl functional groups to trace the molecular interactions at the nanosurfaces through vitamin C sensing. Two new aniline monomers were synthesized via a tailor-made approach and polymerized to produce soluble and uniform polyaniline nanospheres. The structures of the monomers and polymers were characterized by NMR, FT-IR, and MS techniques, and the morphology of the nanomaterials was analyzed by SEM and TEM. The mechanistic aspects of the nanomaterial formations were analyzed by FT-IR and dynamic light scattering techniques. These studies revealed that the hydroxyl-functionalized monomers have strong hydrogen bonding at the monomer level and form spherical aggregates in water, which are templates for the polyaniline nanospheres 600 ± 100 nm in size. A controlled synthesis was also carried out using aniline hydrochloride as an unsubstituted counterpart, which yields polyaniline nanofibers. WXRD analysis confirmed the presence of a sharp peak at lower angle at 2θ = 7.3° (d-spacing of 13.4 Å) in hydroxyl-substituted nanospheres with respect to enhancement of solid-state ordered crystalline domains, whereas unsubstituted nanofibers were found to be highly amorphous. Vitamin C was employed as an analyte to trace the molecular interaction at the nanosphere surface and study the influence of nanosurface functionalization on the sensing ability of biomolecules. The bishydroxyl-functionalized polyaniline nanospheres were found to show efficient molecular interactions toward vitamin C, whereas nanospheres with a monohydroxyl group or unsubstituted nanofibers failed as sensing materials. In a nut shell, in the present investigation, for the first time, we have proved the importance of surface functionalization of polyaniline nanomaterial, exclusively nanospheres, using hydroxyl groups for studying the molecular interactions at the nanosurfaces with biomolecules such as vitamin C.