Page 565 - Polymer-based Nanocomposites for Energy and Environmental Applications

518 Polymer-based Nanocomposites for Energy and Environmental Applications

and sonicated to facilitate aniline molecules to absorb on the SnO 2 or ZnO surfaces
[63,64]. Aniline monomer was then polymerized by microemulsion polymerization to
form inorganic-organic nanocomposite materials, which SnO 2 or ZnO nanoparticles
were embedded within porous PANI. The microemulsion polymerization has also
been performed to synthesize PPy/Au nanocomposites [65]. In this case, direct
oxidation of pyrrole monomer using HAuCl 4 as the oxidant was carried out. The
obtained nanocomposite particles have a tetrahedral structure, where elementary gold
clusters are encapsulated by PPy. Recently, Ansari et al. reported several TiO 2 /PANI
nanocomposites via in situ polymerization that showed enhanced electric conductivity
and/or photocatalytic behavior [66–68]. Besides, SnO 2 nanoparticle-decorated PANI
nanotubes synthesized by in situ oxidation polymerization were also studied [69].
Aniline monomer was polymerized by the mild oxidant (NH 4 ) 2 S 2 O 8 in the pres-
ence of graphene sheets in acid solution to form graphene/PANI nanocomposites.
A novel ternary nanocomposite containing rGO, PANI, and ruthenium (Ru) complex
was reported [70], as shown in Fig. 19.5. The nanomaterial rGO, starting from oxida-
tion of graphite to produce GO followed by postreduction process, serves as large-area
template with high mobility. PANI was first formed and covalently grafted onto rGO
sheets. The Ru complexes were then coordinated onto PANI chains to give rGO/
PANI-Ru hybrid nanocomposites that can be used as a new solar light harvester. Other
binary graphene-PANI composites by in situ polymerization have been reported in the
literature [71,72].
Apart from aniline, pyrrole monomer can also be polymerized by a catalyst-
assisted in situ electrochemical polymerization in the presence of rGO [73,74]. After
the formation of PPy, the rGO/PPy nanocomposite films were electrodeposited on

Fig. 19.5 Synthesis procedure of rGO/PANI-Ru hybrid nanocomposite.
Reproduced with permission from Vinoth R, Babu SG, Bharti V, Gupta V, Navaneethan M,
Bhat SV, et al. Sci Rep 2017;7:43133.