Electrochemical preparation of polyaniline microspheres incorporated with DNA

Electrochemical preparation of the polyaniline (PANI) microspheres incorporating DNA was investigated. The electrochemical polymerization of aniline in the presence of DNA was performed as a preliminary step to synthesize a structurally controlled PANI/DNA composite material. A standard three-electrode cell was employed, comprised a working electrode, a commercial Ag/AgCl electrode and a Pt plate counter electrode with an electrode area of about 8 cm2. The experiments were conducted using a Hokuto Denko HSV-100 potentiostat connected to a personal computer. The PANI samples were dried under vacuum for 24 hours at room temperature after adequate rinsing with water. The absorption band at 620 nm and redox activity in a neural aqueous solution confirmed the fact of DNA incorporation. Resultant PANI films with the microspheres exhibited a different color from the ordinary PANI films.