Polyaniline emeraldine base in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone containing secondary amine additives: A rheological investigation of solutions

From a rheological study of emeraldine base (EB)/N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NMP)/2‐methyl‐aziridine (2MA) solutions, a correlation between the solution concentration and solution viscosity was found. We investigated the rheokinetic mechanism of the EB dissolution process and determined the reaction rate, activation energy, equilibrium constant, and Gibbs free energy (ΔG_o) for the complexation between 2MA and EB tetrameric molecules ({EB}). The low rate constant (～3.0 × 10^?4 mol^?2 L² min^?1 at 298 K) indicates that the process of EB/NMP/2MA solution formation is slow. The {EB} and 2MA molecules need approximately 76 kJ/mol energy to form the complexes, and this implies that stable bonds may need to be broken before the complexes can form. Therefore, increasing the temperature can accelerate solution formation. The equilibrium constant increases with temperature, and this indicates that EB · 2MA complexation is endothermic. A positive value of ΔG_o (5.26 kJ/mol) indicates that EB · 2MA complexation is a thermodynamically unfavorable reaction; therefore, the concentrated EB/NMP/2MA solutions eventually gel. Furthermore, we find that the activation energy of EB/NMP viscous flow is 80 kJ/mol, which is about 3–4 times the energy of ? N? H? hydrogen bonding. This suggests that at least three hydrogen bonds can form between two {EB} molecules, which might be responsible for the poor solubility of EB in organic solvents. The effects of the temperature, EB concentration, and 2MA:{EB} molar ratio on the gelation process have also been investigated. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2702–2713, 2002