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Preparation and evaluation of a nanocomposite of polythiophene with Al 2 O 3
Author(s) -
Ballav Nirmalya,
Biswas Mukul
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.1001
Subject(s) - polythiophene , nanocomposite , materials science , polymerization , thermal stability , composite number , polymer , polymer chemistry , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , chemical engineering , thiophene , aqueous solution , scanning electron microscope , conductive polymer , nuclear chemistry , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
The polymerization of thiophene (TP), in bulk and in solution in CHCl 3 by FeCl 3 resulted in the formation of a polymer which was characterized by FTIR as polythiophene (PTP). High yield was realized in the latter case. The polymerization of TP with FeCl 3 and nanodimensional Al 2 O 3 resulted in the formation of a nanocomposite which was partly dispersible in aqueous and non‐aqueous media. The dispersibility appeared to be higher when the polymerization was conducted in a suspension containing a higher amount of Al 2 O 3 . Scanning electron micrographs showed globular particles and the presence of clusters of composite particles. Transmission electron micrographic (TEM) analyses revealed the particle size of the composite to be in the range 22–74 nm. Thermal analyses (TG/DTA) revealed the outstanding stability of PTP–Al 2 O 3 composites compared to that of PTP. The conductivity of PTP and of PTP–Al 2 O 3 composite was of the order of 10 −3 S cm −1 for samples doped with I 2 . © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry