The chemical oxidative polymerization of a mixture of N-vinylcarbazole (NVC) and aniline (ANI), by FeCl3 in aqueous medium, produced an insoluble polymer that contained polyaniline (PANI), along with some residual poly-N-vinylcarbazole (PNVC) not extractable with benzene. This insoluble PNVC-PANI composite could be obtained as a stable suspension in water when the above polymerization was conducted in the presence of nanodimensional Al2O3. Alternatively, PNVC-(PANI-Al2O3) composite could also be produced by precipitating a THF solution of preformed PNVC onto a PANI-Al2O3 suspension. Likewise PANI-(PNVC-Al2O3) could be obtained by polymerizing ANI onto an aqueous suspension of PNVC-Al2O3. The inclusion of either of these monomer units in the resultant polymer was confirmed by FTIR analysis. SEM analyses revealed formation of a lumpy aggregate, and TEM analyses confirmed particle sizes of the PNVC-PANI-Al2O3 composite to be in the 52-200 nm range. Thermogravimetric stability was in the order: PANI-Al2O3 < PNVC-PANI-Al2O3 < PNVC-Al2O3. The dc conductivity values (S/cm) followed the trend: PNVC-Al2O3 (10(-7)) PNVC-PANI-Al2O3 (1.5 x 10(-4)) approximate to PANI-Al2O3 (1,1 x 10(-4)) < PNVC-PANI (1 x 10(-3)) at ambient temperature. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.