Structural and electrochemical study of polypyrrole/ZnO nanocomposites coating on nickel sheet synthesized by electrochemical method

Polypyrrole/ZnO (PPy/ZnO) nanocomposites coating with different feeding ratios of ZnO (0–30 wt%) were prepared on nickel sheet using oxalic acid and dodecylebenzensulfonic acid (DBSA) as electrolyte by electrochemical methods. It was found that surface morphology of PPy coatings showed typical cauliflower-like structure and ZnO nanoparticles were randomly distributed among these structures. Several elements were detected including C, O, S and Zn in PPy/ZnO nanocomposites coating, and the content of ZnO gradually increased with the increase of feeding ratio of ZnO. A peak in XRD patterns was observed around 2θ of 18.8° related to PPy structure, and the peaks at 1544 cm−1 and 579 cm−1 in FTIR spectra were assigned to stretching vibration of NH bond and ZnO bond, respectively. It was also found that the PPy/ZnO nanocomposites coating had better conductivity and charge storage capability than those of pure PPy. Besides, the corrosion current value of PPy/ZnO nanocomposites coating showed a better corrosion protection.

► Nanocomposites consisting of ZnO nanoparticals and PPy films were synthesized.
► The content of ZnO in PPy/ZnO nanocomposites increased with ZnO feeding ratio.
► The PPy/ZnO nanocomposites show better charge-carrying capacity.
► The PPy/ZnO nanocomposites had better conductivity than that of pure PPy.
► The PPy/ZnO nanocomposites show higher corrosion protection properties.