Enhanced photoconductivity of CdS-polyaniline multilayer nanocomposites

• Nucleated growth of the CdS-polyaniline nanocomposites is confirmed.
• Proportionate increase in quinoid structure than that of benzeniod is confirmed.
• Diminished Raman peak at 1349 cm−1 show possible presence of CdS in the composite.
• Higher conductivity with layer variation is confirmed in CdS-PANI nanocomposites.

In this letter, we show an efficient charge separation and charge transfer mechanism in case of Langmuir–Blodgett prepared CdS-polyaniline nanocomposite thin films. Bearing large interfacial area and low scattering loss, such nanocomposites show photoluminescence (PL) quenching with variation in number of layers which is due to the proportional increase of quinoid structure and efficient charge separation between CdS and polyaniline (PANI). Shifting of PL peak is also confirmed due to competitive fluorescence between CdS and PANI. The photoilluminated efficient charge separation and charge transfer between CdS and PANI make them highly suitable for optoelectronic applications.