Nanocomposite materials consisting of polyaniline (PANI) and WS2 were synthesized. The WS2 was prepared by reacting tungstic acid with thiourea at 500oC under nitrogen flow. Our research showed that WS2 can be used as a filler to improve the activation energy of decomposition of PANI. By using the Ozawa method, we have studied the decomposition kinetics for the nanocomposites, as well as for the pure polymer. The activation energy for the decomposition of pure PANI was found to be 131 kJ/mol. Increasing the amount of WS2 to 20% in the PANI did not change the activation energy of decomposition. However, the activation energy of the decomposition increased to 153 kJ/mol when WS2 was present at 64% by weight, an enhancement of 22 kJ/mol over the pure polymer. Furthermore, an improvement in the electronic conductivity of PANI was observed through the incorporation WS2. For instance, the electronic conductivity of PANI-WS2 at 20% by weight was 9 S/cm, a three-fold increase when compared to pure PANI. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) provided evidence that the nanocomposites are exfoliated (Figure 1). The diffractograms of the nanocomposites were completely amorphous, suggesting lack of structural order in these materials, while their EPR signals were considerably narrower compared to pure PANI, indicating the formation of genuine exfoliated systems. Figure 1. <img src='https://acs-archive-assets2.s3.amazonaws.com/241nm/uploads/71353_untitled.jpg' alt='' />

Exfoliated polyaniline-WS2 nanocomposites

248th National Meeting (2014)

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