Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Polyaniline/Mesoporous Carbon Nanocomposite

Abstract

In this work, a new nanocomposite in which polyaniline (PANI) is encapsulated in ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3 type) has been synthesized. The aniline monomer was introduced into hosts from the vapor phase to avoid the formation of PANI layers on the outer surface. The structure and morphology of the nanocomposite were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption/desorption, FT-IR and Raman spectra, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that PANI is almost formed in the channels of CMK-3 and the nanocomposite retains the ordered mesostructure. Encapsulated PANI exhibits better thermal stability than pure PANI because of confinement effect in the channel system. The conductivity of PANI/CMK-3 nanocomposite containing 8.4 wt% PANI is 0.78 S/cm at room temperature.