In situ conductance and in situ ATR-FTIR study of poly(N-methylaniline) in aqueous solution

In situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR and in situ conductance measurements offer information on structure, electronic, and conductance changes during doping and electropolymerization of conducting polymers. In this paper, we report the in situ recording of the conductance changes during cyclic voltammetry measurements (electropolymerization and the subsequent doping) of N-methylaniline (NMA). The vibrational spectra of poly(N-methylaniline) (PNMA) show specific and characteristic features not only related to its chemical structure, but also to the existence of free charge carriers delocalized along the π-electron network. Results from both in situ conductance and in situ ATR-FTIR have brought us a better understanding of electronic properties and the nature of charge carriers of PNMA film synthesized in acidic aqueous solutions.