Effect of electrolytic conditions on PANi electrosynthesis on stainless steel : A new application to polycarboxy-benzoic acids removal from industrial effluents.

Polyaniline (PANi) films electrosynthesized on the stainless steel electrodes were used as an adsorbent to remove two polycarboxy-benzoic acids, trimellitic (Tri) and pyromellitic (Pyro) acids, from aqueous solutions. The electropolymerization of aniline has been investigated in different aqueous media such as H2SO4, HClO4 and HNO3. The film electrosynthesized in H2SO4 medium revealed high adsorption capacities as 80.85 and 88.65% for Tri and Pyro acids, respectively. The influence of different parameters such as monomer concentration, supporting electrolyte concentration, and electrodeposition time on the adsorptive properties of PANi films was evaluated and systematically optimized.