Novel polymerization of aniline and pyrrole by carbon dots

The polymerization of aniline requires an initiator, such as ammonium persulfate, iron chloride (FeCl₃), potassium persulfate, or silver nitrate. In this study, we introduced a novel one-pot synthesis of polyaniline using carbon dots (C-dots) and UV light that act as catalysts without any additional initiator. Chemical oxidative polymerization is a facile one-step process where C-dots are prepared from polyethylene glycol-400 (PEG-400). Polyaniline was also synthesized by employing carbon dots coated on a glass plate and irradiation of UV light. The synthesized polymer was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. A similar procedure also allowed the synthesis of polypyrrole from pyrrole. The approach using only carbon dots and UV light offers a novel and facile route towards the formation of polymers.