Synthesis and characterization of pyrrole and anisidine copolymers

Toxic heavy metals: impact on the environment and human health, and treatment with conducting organic polymers, a review

Water pollution by heavy metals has many human origins, such as the burning of fossil fuels, exhaust gases of vehicles, mining, agriculture, and incineration of solid and liquid wastes. Heavy metals also occur naturally, due to volcanoes, thermal springs activity, erosion, infiltration, etc. This water contamination is a threat for living beings because most heavy metals are toxic to humans and to aquatic life. Hence, it is important to find effective techniques for removing these contaminants in order to reduce the level of pollution of the natural waters. In this work, we have reviewed the toxicity of several heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel), their impact on the environment and human health, and the synthesis and characterization methods of conducting organic polymers (COPs) utilized for the removal of heavy metals from the environment. Therefore, this review was essentially aimed to present recent works and methods (2000-2020) on the environmental impact and toxicity of heavy metals and on the removal of toxic heavy metals, using chemically and/or electrochemically synthesized COPs. We have also stressed the great interest of COPs for the removal of toxic heavy metals from waters.

Comparative analysis of poly(N-methylpyrrole) and its titanium dioxide nanocomposite film formations against equivalent electrical circuit model for the their corrosion-inhibition effects

Conducting polymers have been used for many years as coating materials against corrosion. However, the coated materials absorb water over time resulting in reduction of resistivity and anticorrosion properties. In this study, poly( N-methylpyrrole) (P( N-MPy)) and P( N-MPy)/titanium dioxide ((TiO2) nanocomposite films were synthesized in 0.5 M oxalic acid solution on Al 1050 electrode by chronoamperometric method. The modified electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray analysis, Fourier transform infrared–attenuated transmission reflectance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and Tafel extrapolation techniques. The corrosion tests results were obtained in 3.5% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution by Tafel plots. In addition, the equivalent electrical circuit model of P( N-MPy) and P( N-MPy)/TiO2 nanocomposite films were investigated in 3.5% NaCl solution at different time periods. The EIS study of the polymer and nanocomposite were analyzed by Matlab program and for the first time Tina, the equivalent electrical circuits program, was used.

Simple Synthesis of Aminoquinoline/Ethylaniline Copolymer Semiconducting Nanoparticles

Pure copolymer nanoparticles from 8-aminoquinoline (AQ) and 2-ethylaniline (EA) were easily synthesized by a chemically oxidative polymerization in three different aqueous media. The potential and temperature of polymerization solution were used to successfully follow the polymerization progress. The molecular and morphological structures of the resulting AQ/EA copolymer particles were systematically characterized by IR, UV/Vis, NMR, gel permeation chromatography, laser particle-size analysis, atomic force and transmission electron microscopy. The oxidation potential of the monomers as well as the polymerization yield, structure, and properties of the particles were found to significantly depend on AQ/EA ratio, polymerization temperature and medium. It is surprisingly found that AQ homopolymerization and AQ/EA (50:50) copolymerization at 5 degrees C in HCl simply afford nano-ellipsoids with the major/minor axis diameters of 24/14 nm and 80/67 nm, respectively. A simple method of synthesizing semiconducting pure nanoparticles by introducing the AQ units with positively charged quaternary ammonium groups but in the absence of adscititious stabilizer or sulfonic substituent on the monomers is established first. Both the molecular weight and bulk electroconductivity of the copolymers exhibit a maximum at AQ content of 10 mol %. The solubility and film formability of the copolymers are good in highly polar solvents and reach the optimal at the AQ content of 20 and 10 mol %, respectively.