Theoretical Investigation of the Protonation Mechanism of Doped Polyaniline

Protonation-Induced Enhanced Optical-Light Photochromic Properties of an Inorganic-Organic Phosphomolybdic Acid/Polyaniline Hybrid Thin Film

A phosphomolybdic acid/polyaniline (PMoA/PANI) optical-light photochromic inorganic/organic hybrid thin film was successfully synthesized by protonation between the the multiprotonic acid phosphomolybdic acid (H₃PO₄·12MoO₃) and the conductive polymer polyaniline. The stable Keggin-type structure of PMoA was maintained throughout the process. Protonation and proton transfer successfully transformed the quinone structure of eigenstate PANI into the benzene structure of single-polarized PANI in the PMoA/PANI hybridized thin film, and proton transfer transformed the benzene structure of single-polarized PANI back to the quinone structure of eigenstate PANI in the PMoA/PANI hybrid thin film, as verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The average distribution of PMoA/PANI was observed by atom force microscopy (AFM). Interestingly, protonation of PMoA caused PANI to trigger transformation of the quinone structure into the single-polarized benzene structure, which enhanced the electron delocalization ability and vastly enhanced the maximum light absorption of the PMoA/PANI hybrid thin film as confirmed by density functional theory (DFT), electrochemistry, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) studies. Under optical-light illumination, the pale-yellow PMoA/PANI hybrid thin film gradually turned deep blue, thus demonstrating a photochromic response, and reversible photochromism was also observed in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) or oxygen (O₂). After 40 min of optical-light illumination, 36% of the Mo⁵⁺ species in PMoA was photoreduced via a protonation-induced proton transfer mechanism, and this proton transfer resulted in a structural change of PANI, as observed by XPS, generating a dominant structure with high maximum light absorption of 3.46, when compared with the literature reports.

Time-dependent density functional theory study on the excited-state hydrogen-bonding characteristics of polyaniline in aqueous environment

A theoretical study was carried out to study the excited-state of hydrogen-bonding characteristics of polyaniline (PANI) in aqueous environment. The hydrogen-bonded PANI-H₂O complexes were studied using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). The electronic excitation energies and the corresponding oscillator strengths of the low-lying electronically excited states for hydrogen-bonded complexes were calculated by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The ground-state geometric structures were optimized, and it is observed that the intermolecular hydrogen bonds CN⋯HO and NH⋯OH were formed in PANI-H₂O complexes. The formed hydrogen bonds influenced the bond lengths, the charge distribution, as well as the spectral characters of the groups involved. It was concluded that all the hydrogen-bonded PANI-H₂O complexes were primarily excited to the S1 states with the largest oscillator strength. In addition, the orbital transition from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) involved intramolecular charge redistribution resulting to increase the electron density of the quinonoid rings.