Novel microstructure in spin coated polyaniline thin films

Abstract

Polyaniline (Pani) thin films doped with camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) have been deposited on glass substrates using the spin coating technique. Pani is chemically synthesized by an oxidation method at ∼0 °C. Pani-CSA films show a hexagonal structure in scanning electron micrographs, which occurs due to the crystalline growth of CSA. A dense hexagonal structure is visible for film deposited at 800rpm, but it becomes sparser as the revolutions per minute are increased (1200, 1500 and 2000rpm). Electronic transition of quinoid units cause an absorption shoulder at ∼900nm for films deposited at 1200, 1500 and 2000rpm, which is not observed for film deposited at 800rpm. © IOP Publishing Ltd.