Synthesis and Characterization of Polyaniline:TiO2 Nanocomposites

Thin films of polyaniline (PANi) and PANi:titanium oxide (TiO2) composites have been synthesized by solgel spin coating technique. The TiO2 powder of particle size 50-60nm was synthesized by sol-gel technique and the polyaniline was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. The composite films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV-vis spectroscopy, and the results were compared with polyaniline films. The intensity of the diffraction peaks for PANi:TiO2 composites is lower than that for TiO2. The characteristic FTIR peaks of PANi were found to shift to a higher wave number in the PANi:TiO2 composite. These observed effects have been attributed to the interaction of TiO2 particles with PANi molecular chains. The room temperature resistivity of polyaniline:nano-TiO2 composite is 3.43x103cm and the resistivity of pure nano-TiO2 particles is 1.60x106cm.