Chemically reduced versus photo-reduced clay-Ag-polypyrrole ternary nanocomposites: Comparing thermal, optical, electrical and electromagnetic shielding properties

• Synthesis of clay-Ag-Polypyrrole nanocomposites by chemical deposition and photoreduction methods.
• Enhanced electrical conductivity of photoreduced clay-Ag-Polypyrrole in comparison to chemical deposited product.
• Enhanced electromagnetic interference shielding of photoreduced clay-Ag-Polypyrrole in comparison to chemical deposited product.

Polypyrrole (PPy) is a well-known polymeric material, which is widely used for producing electroconductive substrates. Despite its good electrical performances, it has been shown that PPy composites exhibit better conductivity and electromagnetic shielding properties than pure PPy. Based on these advantages, we aimed to synthesize clay-Ag-polypyrrole nanocomposites using two different methods of chemical deposition and photo-reduction. We evaluated the chemical, physical, morphological, thermal, electrical and electromagnetic interference shielding properties of nanocomposites using spectroscopic and microscopic methods. Spectroscopic results showed chemical interactions among clay, Ag and polypyrrole due to coordination within the nanocomposite structure. Our results demonstrated that the photo-reduced clay-Ag-polypyrrole nanocomposite has higher thermal stability, better electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness among all samples tested.

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