Interfacial oxidative polymerization of aniline on silica gel's surface

Kinetics of the oxidative polymerization of aniline in toluene induced by manganese (IV) oxide deposited on the surface of silica gel was studied using ESR spectroscopy. The initial rate of an interfacial process decreases rapidly, and then polymerization proceeds as pseudo-first order reaction for the surface concentration of manganese (IV) oxide with an activation energy of 23 kJ × mol−1. A low activation energy indicates that the overall rate is controlled by aniline diffusion into the reaction zone.