Thermal stability of several polyaniline/rare earth oxide composites (I): polyaniline/CeO2 composites

Polyaniline (PANI)/CeO2 composites were prepared by adding CeO2 powder into the polymerization reaction mixture of aniline. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the composites. Thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) were used to study the thermal stability of the composites. IR and XRD results show that interaction exists between PANI and CeO2. This interaction maybe is hydrogen bonding action between the hydroxyl groups on the surface of the CeO2 and the imine groups in the PANI molecular chains. TG-DTG analysis indicates that the thermal stability of the composites is higher than that of the pure PANI. The improvement in the thermal stability of the composites is attributed to the interaction between PANI and CeO2, which restricts the thermal motion of PANI chains and shields the degradation of PANI in the composites.