Preparation of a novel nanocomposite of polyaniline core decorated with anatase- TiO 2 nanoparticles in ionic liquid/water microemulsion

Abstract

Polyaniline core decorated with TiO 2 (PANI- TiO 2) nanocomposite particles was successfully synthesized in ionic liquid/water (IL/water) microemulsion in the presence of anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles. The TiO 2 nanoparticles had been dispersed beforehand in OP-10 and n-butanol to weaken the strong particles agglomeration of TiO 2. The PANI- TiO 2 nanocomposites were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM), and their electrochemical behavior was estimated by the electrochemical workstation. SEM micrographs showed that the nanocomposites exhibited spherical morphology with particle sizes about 70nm. The TEM result showed that the PANI- TiO 2 nanocomposites had a novel structure and that nanocrystalline TiO 2 deposited onto the surface of PANI, which was different from the reported structure of TiO 2-PANI nanocomposites. Both FTIR and UV-Vis spectra indicate that polyaniline and nano- TiO 2 particles are not simply blended or mixed up. A possible reaction mechanism for this nanocomposite preparation is suggested and analyzed. Copyright © 2012 Yanni Guo et al.