Polymeric dispersion of thiophene copolymers and a process for preparation thereof

A process for preparing a copolymer of at least one type of repeating units of thiophene or substituted thiophene in the presence of a reactive surfactant, wherein the process steps comprise:

• (a) dissolving the reactive surfactant in deionized water with stirring to make a homogeneous aqueous mixture;
• (b) bubbling N2 in the homogeneous aqueous mixture obtained in step (a) for a period ranging between 5 minutes to 30 minutes followed addition of a thiophene or substituted thiophene monomer, or a mixture thereof to obtain a mixture;
• (c) initiating polymerization in the mixture obtained in step (b) by adding FeCl3 and H2O2 with stirring for a period in the range of 12 hrs to 24 hrs to obtain a dispersion;
• and
• (d) filtering the dispersion obtained in step (c) and then freeze drying the copolymer to obtain a powder form or optionally in cast film form, wherein the reactive surfactant is incorporated in the backbone of the copolymer with the thiophene or substituted thiophone.