Synthesis and characterization of polyanilineZr(IV)sulphosalicylate composite and its applications (1) electrical conductivity, and (2) antimicrobial activity studies

A series of organic–inorganic conducting nano-composite cation-exchanger have been synthesized via sol–gel method and characterized by using FTIR, XRD, TGA-DTA, SEM, TEM, AFM and Raman studies. The structural studies confirm the semi-crystalline nature of the material with the particle size ranging from 2 to 20 nm. The observed band gap for the different samples was found to be in the range of 3.19–3.65 eV which shows that nano-composite materials cover semiconducting range. Activation energy was also calculated using thermo gravimetric analysis. Electrical measurements show that the resistivity of samples is highly dependent on the % of inorganic precipitate within the composite. Nano-composite material has also been tested against the various bacterial (Escherichia coli, Bacillus thuringiensis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungal strains (Aspergillus nigrus, Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium chrysogenum) and relatively higher activities were observed than the known antibiotics.

► The present work reports the synthesis, characterization conducting behaviour and microbiological activity of novel polyanilineZr(IV)sulphosalicylate nano-composite cation exchanger.
► This work claims superior physiochemical properties in terms of higher ion-exchange capacity (1.78 meq g−1 for Na+), better thermal stability.
► Its characterization has been done on the basis of AFM and RAMAN spectroscopy, besides FTIR, XRD, SEM and TEM studies.
► The nano-composite material shows more significant microbiological activity compared to known antibiotics, can be used as ion-exchange material and semiconducting material.