First preparation of optical quality films of nano/micro hollow spheres of polymers of aniline

In the present study, an experimental procedure used to prepare high-quality, transparent, uniform thin film of a new nano/micro material, a new type of polymer of aniline, is described. The method was used to prepare, for the first time, a solid-state thin film of nano/micro material for various types of studies, such as ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemistry. The UV–vis spectra showed that the as-prepared solid thin film of the nano/micro material was apparently not protonated when it was formed in an acidic solution of pH 3.0 since no change in the UV–vis spectrum was observed when it was treated with a deprotonating solution of 1.0 mol dm−3 of ammonium hydroxide. To our surprise, it was found that the UV–vis spectrum of a nano/micro material deposited on a glass slide was completely different from its solution UV–vis spectrum when the film was dissolved in NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone). The SEM studies showed that the thin film consists of rod-like nanostructures as well as nano/micro spheres. The electrochemical studies showed that the thin film of the nano/micro material deposited on ITO surface presented only one redox process in the potential interval of −0.20 and +0.80 V (versus SCE) in the presence of 1.0 mol dm−3 hydrochloric acid.