Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan/ Polypyrrole/ Sepiolite Nanocomposites

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, Chitosan / Polypyrrole/ Sepiolite (Cs/PPy/Sep.) Nanocomposites (NC) were synthesized with pyrrole and chitosan via redox polymerization in aqueous media with magnetic stirrer system in presence of ammonium cerium (IV) nitrate (Ce+4) and sepiolite at room temperature. The roles of the oxidant/monomer mole ratio, on the yield, conductivity and morphology of the resulting products were investigated. Chitosan/ Polypyrrole/ Sepiolite Nanocomposites (Cs/PPy/Sep.NC) were prepared with the oxidant to pyrrole mole ratio 0.67:1 showed conductivity of 3.7 x 10-4 S/cm for 0.016g chitosan, and 3.0 x 10-4 S/cm for 0.5g chitosan. The oxidant to pyrrole molar ratio 0.8 is proposed to be the optimum stoichiometry for the better conductivity while the ratio for the highest yield was obtained for molar ratio of 1.0. The obtained results showed that ESEM micrograph for the surface of Chitosan/ Polypyrrole/ Clay Nanocomposite has average size of 28.63nm. The yield of the product (polymer) and electrical conductivity of the product are investigated as physical characteristics. The electrical conductivities of Cs/PPy/Sep. NC were determined by four point probe technique. In addition, the resulting NC are characterized with spectroscopic method that is Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and also morphological method, which is Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).