USE OF INVERSE THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH AMINO-ACIDS TO CHARACTERIZE MOLECULAR-INTERACTIONS ON CONDUCTING POLYMERS

A new method for characterizing conducting polymers, based on thin layer chromatography, is evaluated. Polypyrrole and polyaniline were used as the stationary phase and molecular probes were used to characterize favourable interactions on the polymers. Amino acids were chosen as the molecular probes because of the range of properties they exhibit and because there are numerous methods for their detection. Some difficulties were experienced in preparing stationary phases with suitable physical properties. However, once this was overcome, useful information was obtained with inverse TLC. Polypyrrole and polyaniline were both found to behave predominantly as anion-exchange materials.