Recent Advances in Applications of Polyaniline Copolymers for Chemical Sensors with Enhanced Performance

Polyaniline (PANI) isPolyaniline (PANI) a conductive polymer well known for its easy synthesis, stability under ambient conditions, redox behavior, and adjustable properties through doping and dedoping processes related to its π-conjugated molecular structureΠ-conjugated molecular structure. Due to its outstanding attributes, PANI has been a material of great interest in chemical sensors, playing roles as the principal transducer, the biomolecule immobilization matrix, and the detection layer. However, the application of PANI is often limited by its poor processability, caused by interchain interactions and its semi-crystalline structure. To address this problem and improve the PANI properties, advanced copolymerization strategies with different monomers, such as aromatic heterocycles and aniline analogs, have been proposed. The properties of the resulting PANI copolymers have been modified by varying either the proportion of the constituents or the way the repeating units are chemically linked. Final materials include desirable properties such as mechanical strength, wettability, film-forming ability, and adjustable pHPH sensitivity. In this chapter, we review PANI’s copolymerization strategies focused on improving chemical detection with these characteristics in mind. We highlight the advantages in the performance of chemical detections, such as stability, sensitivity, selectivity, and processability derived from the combination of monomers in the copolymer.