Interfacial polymerization of carbazole: Morphology controlled synthesis

One-dimensional nanotube and three-dimensional hollow spheres of conducting polymers have attracted immense attention due to their unique properties and potential applications. There are two routes of synthesizing these systems—electrochemical and chemical. However, chemical polymerization has incurred a particular interest because of two major advantages—possibility of bulk synthesis and control of morphology. In this article, we have reported for the first time chemical synthesis of unsubstituted polycarbazole and formation of its hollow microspheres. Carbazole is polymerized with controlled morphology using interfacial polymerization; however, so far it is known to synthesize using electrochemical technique only. Upon comparative analysis with polymer synthesized through electrochemical route, it is observed that polymer synthesized through interfacial polymerization has higher crystallinity with spherical morphology. Formation and growth of microspheres are observed with AFM and SEM micrographs.