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A facile synthesis of a novel three‐phase nanocomposite: Single‐wall carbon nanotube/silver nanohybrid fibers embedded in sulfonated polyaniline
Author(s) -
Agrawalla Rajesh K.,
Paul Subhasish,
Sahoo Pratap K.,
Chakraborty Amit K.,
Mitra Apurba K.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.41692
Subject(s) - nanocomposite , materials science , polyaniline , carbon nanotube , raman spectroscopy , thermogravimetric analysis , nanotube , chemical engineering , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , nanoparticle , silver nanoparticle , spectroscopy , composite material , nanotechnology , polymer , physics , quantum mechanics , polymerization , engineering , optics
A three‐phase water‐soluble nanocomposite of single wall carbon nanotube/silver nanoparticle hybrid fibers embedded in sulfonated polyaniline has been synthesized by a simple chemical solution mixing process. The nanocomposite has been characterized by high resolution electron microscopy, X‐ray diffractometry, FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Optical and electrical characteristics of the nanocomposite have been determined by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and four‐probe electrical conductivity measurement. A surface plasmon absorption band obtained around 460 nm indicates the presence of silver nanoparticles in the composite. The optical band gap calculation for sulfonated polyaniline vis‐a‐vis the nanocomposite supported the conductivity measurement. Over 1300 times increase in DC electrical conductivity has been observed for the three‐phase nanocomposite, with a filler loading of 20 wt %, at 306 K. This observation could be explained by Mott's variable range hopping model considering a three‐dimensional conduction. Such a nanocomposite has immense potential for use as a cathode material in lithium‐ion batteries and supercapacitors. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41692.