Nicole Ashley V Santos, a Bachelor of Science in Physics alumna and part-time faculty member of the Department of Physics, published a scientific article entitled, “Effect of polyaniline on the structural, conductivity, and dielectric properties of chitosan” through an open-access journal in ScienceDirect; named “Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications.” This journal focuses on the scientific and technological aspects and applications of polymers that contain carbohydrates, e.g., chitosan.

The said article, which is part of her undergraduate thesis, aims to investigate the structural, conductivity, and dielectric properties of in situ polymerized polyaniline-chitosan blends with acetic acid and hydrochloric acid as dopants for possible biomedical applications biosensors, drug delivery, and bio-actuators. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) were used to explore the structure of the blend. While its conductivity and dielectric behavior were investigated using UV-vis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).

This study is supported by the 2017 Discovery-Applied Research and Extension for Trans/Inter-disciplinary Opportunities (DARETO) Cycle 2 Program of the Commission on Higher Education Philippines (CHED). The authors would like to thank Dr. Alvin Karlo Tapia of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños and his Department of Science and Technology-Japan Society for the Promotion of Science-Bilateral Research Program (2018–2020) for the EIS measurements, Dr. Magdaleno R. Vasquez Jr. of the Plasma-Material Interactions Laboratory (PMIL) in University of the Philippines-Diliman for the use of the laboratory for the experiments, University of the Philippines Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development Outright Research Grant (191933-ORG), and the Marith´e Girbaud Professorial Chair.

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