Preparation of polyaniline/vermiculite clay nanocomposites by in situ chemical oxidative grafting polymerization

BACKGROUND: Recently, conducting polymers have attracted much attention, since they have interesting physical properties and many potential applications, such as in conductive coating charge storage. Hence the synthesis of conducting polymer nanocomposites is also an area of increasing research activity. RESULTS: Vermiculites (VMTs) were successfully delaminated using an acid treatment. Polyaniline (PANI)/VMT nanocomposites were prepared by in situ chemical oxidative grafting polymerization. CONCLUSION: The chemical grafting of PANI/VMTs was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared and UV‐visible spectroscopy. The percentage of grafted PANI was 142.7 wt% as a mass ratio of the grafting PANI and charged nano‐VMTs, investigated using thermogravimetric analysis. In addition, characteristic agglomerate morphology of PANI was observed in the composites using scanning electron microscopy. Thermal analyses indicated that the introduction of VMT nanosheets had a beneficial effect on the thermal stability of PANI. The electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites was 3.9 × 10^?3 S cm^?1, a value typical for semiconductors. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry