Hydrophilic behaviour of gold-poly (o-phenylenediamine) hybrid nanocomposite

An in situ synthesis route is described for the preparation of a gold-poly (o-phenylenediamine) nanocomposite material by the interfacial polymerization route. The synthesis was carried out at the organic–aqueous interface. It was found that polymerization of o-phenylenediamine (PDA) using HAuCl4 as an oxidizing agent leads to the formation of poly-PDA with a fiber-like morphology, while the reduction of HAuCl4 results in the formation of well dispersed and stabilized gold nanoparticles within the polymer matrix. The resultant composite material was purely hydrophilic in nature and was deposited in the aqueous fraction of the reaction medium. The metal–polymer was characterized by means of different techniques, such as UV–vis and Raman spectroscopy that provided information about the chemical structure of polymer, whereas electron microscopy images provided information regarding the morphology of the composite material and the distribution of the metal particles in the composite material.