Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Nanocomposite Polymer

Abstract

One-dimensional nanostructures of PANI: PVA-g-EI nanocomposite are prepared by the interfacial polymerization method. The properties of a resulting green powder are studied by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Prepared thin films were characterized by UV-Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. The XRD pattern of the nanocomposite shows that the higher volume fraction of crystalline phases corresponds to the PANI polymer with the accepted monoclinic unit cell of PVA. Nano-sized irregular particles arranged in clusters appear in the TEM measurements and SEM images, which testifies to the agglomeration without uniform packing. EDX confirms that the PVA-g-EI is incorporated in the structure of the polymer nanocomposite. A significant shift in the absorption edge with three PL independent emission peaks again confirms that PANI/PVA-g-EI form a nanocomposite.