SYNTHESIS AND STUDY OF ATR SPECTRA OF POLYANILINE/GRA NANOCOMPOSITES

Abstract

Nanocomposites are a particular class of materials resulting from combinations of two or more compounds by an appropriate method, which results in materials having unique physicochemical properties and large potential for application in diverse areas. Some of the distinctive properties of polymeric nanocomposites can be derived from the successful combination of the uniqueness of the parent constituents into a particular polymer. These composites vary from the pure polymers in respect to some of the physical and chemical properties and hence are useful for many different applications. We synthesized Polyaniline (PANI) in Emeraldine form by chemical oxidation method using Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) as a catalyst and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), as an oxidant. Simultaneous synthesis of polyaniline (PANI)/ GRA nanocomposites was also done by the same chemical oxidation method. The characteristic absorption peaks of Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) spectra for GRA, PANI and PANI/GRA provide information about the changes in the chemical structure of PANI. ATR spectra also give indication that the incorporation of GRA in the matrix of PANI seems to be effective for the improvement of the physicochemical properties of the Polyaniline.