Optical and electrical conducting properties of Polyaniline/Tin oxide nanocomposite

Polyaniline(PANI)/Tin oxide (SnO2) hybrid nanocomposite with a diameter 20–30 nm was prepared by co-precipitation process of SnO2 through in situ chemical polymerization of aniline using ammonium persulphate as an oxidizing agent. The resulting nanocomposite material was characterized by different techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Ultraviolet–Visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), which offered the information about the chemical structure of polymer, whereas electron microscopy images provided information regarding the morphology of the nanocomposite materials and the distribution of the metal particles in the nanocomposite material. SEM observation showed that the prepared SnO2 nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed and highly stabilized throughout the macromolecular chain that formed a uniform metal-polymer nanocomposite material. UV–Vis absorption spectra of PANI/SnO2 nanocomposites were studied to explore the optical behavior after doping of nanoparticles into PANI matrix. The incorporation of SnO2 nanoparticles gives rise to the red shift of π–π∗ transition of polyaniline. Thermal stability of PANI and PANI/SnO2 nanocomposite was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). PANI/SnO2 nanocomposite observed maximum conductivity (6.4 × 10−3 scm−1) was found 9 wt% loading of PANI in SnO2.