Synthesis and characterization of PANI and PANI-indole copolymer and study of their antimalarial and antituberculosis activity

The preparation of polyaniline (PANI) and its copolymer with indole involved a chemical oxidative polymerization method, with benzene sulfonic acid (BSA, C6H6O3S) used as a dopant and potassium persulfate (PPS, K2S2O8) as an oxidant. The synthesized compounds underwent characterization using FTIR, 1H-NMR, TGA, and GPC techniques, which allowed the calculation of their average molecular weight and polydispersity index (PDI) through the GPC technique. The PDI values of the PANI copolymer with indole in different aniline-to-indole ratios were 1.53, 1.13, and 1.532 for 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1 ratios, respectively. Thermal stability was determined using TGA, revealing that the indole heterocyclic compound increased the inflexibility of the polymer chains in the synthesized PANI copolymer. The structure of the copolymer was further analyzed using (HNMR)-H-1 and FTIR techniques, which confirmed the existence of benzenoid and quinoid groups in the PANI-indole copolymers, as well as the effect of doping on the polymer chains. The antibacterial and antifungal properties of the copolymers were studied against several bacterial and fungal strains and measured in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration. Results indicated that the inhibition rate of the PANI-indole copolymer on S. pyogenus (MTCC 442) was higher than that of standard drugs and individual PANI. The PANI-indole copolymers also displayed excellent antituberculosis and antimalarial activities, with the synthesized copolymer showing better outcomes than individual PANI.