Conducting polyaniline nanoparticles encapsulated with polyacrylate via emulsifier-free seeded emulsion polymerization and their electroactive films

Conducting polyaniline/partially phosphorylated poly(vinyl alcohol)/polyacrylate ((PAn/P-PVA)/PAc) composite nanoparticles were prepared by the encapsulation of the polyaniline/partially phosphorylated poly(vinyl alcohol) (PAn/P-PVA) nanoparticles with polyacrylate (PAc) via the emulsifier-free seeded emulsion polymerization. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) analysis of the polyaniline/partially phosphorylated poly(vinyl alcohol)/polyacrylate ((PAn/P-PVA)/PAc) composite nanoparticles showed that the PAn/P-PVA nanoparticles were successfully encapsulated with the polyacrylate (PAc). With the increasing of the feeding ratio of acrylate monomers, the diameter of the (PAn/P-PVA)/PAc composite nanoparticles increased and their electrical conductivity decreased. Furthermore, the composite particles become irregular morphology, compared with the spherical PAn/P-PVA nanoparticles. Cyclic voltammogram (CV) revealed that the composite nanoparticles were electroactive. And good quality films with appreciable Young's modulus and tensile strength could be obtained from the (PAn/P-PVA)/PAc composite nanoparticles.