Study of structural, electrical and thermal properties of polyaniline/ZnO composites synthesized by in- situ polymerization

This paper reports the structural, electrical and thermal properties of the polyaniline doped with ZnO composites. Conducting polymer composites of polyaniline/zinc oxide (PANI/ZnO) have been synthesized by in-situ polymerization of aniline using various compositions (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 wt %) of ZnO in PANI using ammonium persulphate as an oxidant. The amorphous nature of the composites has been ascertained by the X-ray diffraction. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirms the interaction between PANI and dopant. Thermal stability of polymer composites has been analyzed by TGA and corresponding thermal kinetic parameters were calculated using Horowitz-Metzger method. Thermal analysis shows higher thermal stability of PANI/ZnO composites than pure PANI. The surface morphology of these composites was analyzed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which also confirms the presence of ZnO in the composites. The dc conductivity behaviour of these composites has also been investigated as a function of temperature and concentration in the temperature range 313-393 K and the results were compared with pure PANI. The dc electrical conductivity of PANI/ZnO composites decreased as the ZnO content increased in PANI but increased with the increase in temperature

Synthesis and characterization of polyaniline/TiO2 composites

The synthesis and characterization of polyaniline (PANI)/TiO2 polymer composites have been studied. The synthesis method is based on chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline added with various weight % of TiO2 in the presence of ammonium persulphate as an oxidant. The results of XRD confirm the presence of TiO2 in the composites. The FTIR shows systematic shifting of the characteristic bands of PANI with the increase in content of TiO2. The SEM images revealed uniform distribution of TiO2 particles in the PANI matrix. The evaluation of the dynamical parameters for PANI/TiO2 composites using technique such as TGA has been reported. The thermal stability of composites increases with the increase in TiO2 weight %. Although PANI/TiO2 composites show lower dc electrical conductivity as compared to PANI and the conductivity decreases with increasing content of TiO2, but they show a higher thermal stability than that of PANI. Further, the dc electrical conductivity is observed to increase with the increase in temperature. This work opens new perspectives for the use of PANI/TiO2 composites as a conducting material at high temperatures