ABSTRACT
The electrochemical synthesis of conducting polymers dates back at least 125 years to a medical experiment that first generated a type of polyaniline [1]. Letheby was attempting to develop a sensitive test for aniline, which forms in the stomachs of patients who are poisoned by nitrobenzene. He dissolved 2 ounces of aniline in dilute sulfuric acid and attached two large platinum sheet electrodes to opposite poles of a Grove battery cell. A thick layer of blue-green powdery material immediately formed on the positive electrode. Eventually, different forms of this bluegreen material would become known by various names, including emeraldine, nigraniline, and polyaniline.
