Conductive polymer bronzes. Intercalated polyaniline in V₂O₅ xerogels

The authors report the successful in situ intercalation/ polymerization of aniline in layered V₂O₅.nH₂O xerogels to yield films of a novel, conducting polymer/oxide bronze, a layered, molecular composite. It is demonstrated for the first time that the redox intercalation of aniline results in the conductive protonated form of polyaniline. The intercalation reaction reported using layered V₂O₅.nH₂O xerogels is general. The authors have produced stable free standing films containing a variety of other important conducting polymers such as polypyrrole, polythiophene, and their derivatives. It should be noted that this class of materials can be viewed not only as conducting polymer intercalation compounds but also as bronzes.